Antique Victorian Eastlake Walnut Platform Parlor Rocker Rocking Chair

Description

Antique Victorian platform rocking armchair. Made of walnut featuring Eastlake styling with turned foliate and wheel designs, padded arms / headrest, and nailhead trim. Upholstered in green velvet. Rock, Hughes & Co., Furniture & Rugs , Urbana Ohio.

A platform rocker is a type of rocking chair with a seat that moves on a stationary base, rather than directly on the floor. The seat is attached to the base by a double-rocker four-bar linkage, which has non-parallel suspension arms that make the chair swing back and forth. The chair's movable section can be kept at a comfortable angle without oscillating.

Platform rockers were introduced to the United States around 1870 and became popular in the 1880s. In 1882, German immigrant and furniture maker George Hunzinger patented a torsion bar system that prevented the rockers from moving across the floor while the sitter rocked. This was a major innovation in furniture technology that changed American parlors.

Condition

Good antique condition, wear and distressing commensurate with age and use, fading to fabric, some missing nailheads and trim, indent.

Dimensions

26" x 34" d x 39"; seat h 19"