Exhibition “Four Feet on the Ground. The Estonian Country Chair”

The exhibition opens on Friday, October 25 at 4 p.m.!

The chair was one of the first items of movable furniture in the Estonian farm dwelling around the turn of the 19th century, along with benches and stools. It became a common household item only during the last decades of the 19th century. For a long time, the chair was regarded as something more sophisticated than a mere utilitarian object. With its varied construction types and decorations, it was also the most interesting item in the otherwise sparsely furnished peasant dwelling.

There are about 370 country chairs in the Estonian National Museum collections. The earliest date to the late 18th century, the latest to the 1930s. The unique chairs chosen for this exhibition tell a vivid story about the period in which the chairs were crafted and about the people who made them.

Choosing the material, deciding on the construction solution, decorating the chair back and weaving the seat could have been a kind of meditative endeavour away from the hard farm work and an expression of the maker’s aesthetic values, knowledge and skill. The earliest chairs were not meant for everyday seating of family members. They were made or bought from artisans for weddings and other significant family occasions. Even later on, when chairs had become quite common, they were still perceived as bringing an air of refinement to the farm’s living area.

The chairs are displayed in 13 thematic groups featuring regional differences, style influences and types of construction and form. Crafting and decorations of the country chairs reflect changes in everyday life. We have displayed a few chairs made by professional chairmakers for to follow how fashionable furniture seen in the church, manor or town was adapted to the farmer’s circumstances. In addition, the chairs in the museum collection enable us to study the tools and materials used, thus telling us about developments in Estonian woodworking.

The chair is not just an object for seating people. It also embodies the aesthetic values of its makers. Most of the chairs displayed are more than a century old. Similar to people of venerable age, they convey memories of a time long past and marks of their long life. We are pleased to share this wealth with you.

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Acknowledgements:

the Estonian History Museum, the Hiiumaa Museum, the Saaremaa Museum, St. John’s Church in Valga, St. Mary’s Church in Ambla, Tõnu Kollo

Please do not sit on the displayed chairs. Thank you!