Every peasant home in Chianti had straw bottomed chairs. Today this type of chairs is still common in country houses in Tuscany. Straw bottom chairs are a warm touch of Tuscan style in your home and you should consider having them around your dinner table. This type of chairs did not originate in Tuscany. The first chair-makers came from northern Italy and passed door to door, working in exchange for a meal, or a night’s sleep in the hay-loft or the barn. They carried with them the “stiancia”, a material made of marsh grasses which they collected along rivers, and the “bacchette” short sticks used to join the legs of the chair. The farmer provided the rest of the wood, which had to be fresh so that when it aged its contraction wedged in the “bacchette” holding the chair together without glue. For household furniture, farmers often cut down a cypress tree, not bothering to ask the landlord’s permission. Later, a wood known as the “palings”, the reshoot of chestnut trees, was preferred for its resistance to woodworm. Moreover, by splitting the “palings” you easily obtained the “stagging”, the back supports of the chair, all in one piece from the back to the legs, by taking advantage of the wood’s natural curvature. In time, Chianti farmers were able to make the whole chair by themselves, from the wood to the straw. The marsh grasses were cut and dried in the sun and once dry, they could be twisted by hand into a kind of rope, which was simply lengthened, by twisting another piece on as it ran out during work. The weaving was done around the four sides of the chair, resulting in an “envelope” effect: a square seat formed by four rope triangles. The inside was stuffed with hay to add support. This work occupied winter days, when the bad weather did not allow work in the fields, or during the evening hours known as “veglia”, before the peasant family went to sleep.
Thu
10
Sep '09
Start discussion »
Leave a Reply