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French-Polished Dining Table and Chairs
£100 Polwarth, Edinburgh
Four French-polished dining chairs with a small dining table (seats 4), all in good condition. The chairs’ upholstery matches in theme, with two pairs in navy and two in burgundy. The table is a versatile size, 137cm by 74cm (4’6” x 2’5”), which could suit a kitchen or dining room. This furniture originally came from a nunnery in New South Wales, and was stripped and restored by the current owners; the chairs are a typical early-20th-century Australian style.
For collection only.
We bought them at an auction at that nunnery in the late 1990s, hauled them in a trailer to Canberra, stripped off their thick layers of Estapol, and brought them back to life. (We dubbed their previous owners the Varnishing Nuns of Yass.) They were our table and chairs for a couple of years, then went into storage for eight more, and then came halfway around the world with the rest of our stored stuff. We’ve used them a bit here, but this style of chair and small children don’t mix. My parents had dozens of old chairs like this when my brother and I were kids, rotating in and out of our dining room. They would rotate out whenever one of us leant too far back on them. Now that I’ve re-glued several chairs like these as an adult, I know how my parents must have felt whenever they heard that familiar crr-ack.
There’s no point having them take up space in the attic, so out they go. Priced to sell. Will consider an international sale, if you’re prepared to come and collect them. We’re on the top floor, and there’s no lift.
8 April 2012