Bill Roberts's Page

Hi Bill,
It sounds like an interesting chair. I wish I could say the paint and decals serve as protective layers, like the dust on my furniture, but it sounds like careful stripping is in order. (I've heard that a heat gun can get through the paint to the original finish below but there is a scorching risk.) Bruce Johnson, the organizer of the Grove Park Inn's annual Arts and Crafts conference comes to mind as a good resource -- both for recreating or saving Arts and Crafts-era finishes and as an expert on Roycroft furniture. He wrote a book a while back called The Weekend Refinisher, which gives a great overview of furniture stripping and refinishing, with emphasis on A&C finishes. He also knows Roycroft furniture quite well because the Roycroft Shops made furniture for the Grove Park Inn (GPI). He's written a new book on the history of the GPI. You may want to check out the GPI A&C Conference Web site for contact information.

Roycroft furniture is very well made and rather rare. The exception is the Little Journeys bookstand which is fairly common (I have one). It was mailed flat and assembled at home (pre-IKEA). A chair would be valuable and worth treating well. You may also want to check out the Web sites of the Roycrofters in East Aurora, including the Roycrofters-at-Large Association

Barb