Late 19th Century Green Man North Wind Black Forest Style Hand Carved Quarter Sawn Oak Chair

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Guaranteed to be the most interesting piece of furniture in the room, this green man chair is captivating in style, … Read more Guaranteed to be the most interesting piece of furniture in the room, this green man chair is captivating in style, quality, and individuality. We believe it is hand carved from quarter sawn oak. maker unknown, but was most likely made in USA in the mid west.

The most curious furniture item produced in America toward the end of the 19th century was the "face chair." This odd little chair inspired by German Black Forest furniture became a must-have item for American parlors.

The most common face was a stylized North Wind blowing wooden tendrils of” "wind" from its mouth.Other faces included grinning ogres, laughing gremlins, and satyrs with wickedly out-thrust tongues. Neptune and the Green Man, or foliate head of Celtic mythology, were also popular subjects.

It isn’t surprising that the stone ancestors of these faces stare down from the tops of medieval cathedrals and guildhalls across Europe. The origin of the faces is fairly easy to trace. Woodcarvers arriving in America from Germany in the mid-18th century found work in Midwest furniture factories. They brought their traditions and mythologies with them. In a way, their carvings were like fairy tales and folk tales fashioned in wood to delight and entertain. See less