No I'm not switching careers into politics. I'm talking about this antique campaign chair that I inherited from my grandparents.
Campaign furniture is designed to be folded up, packed, and carried on the march during battle. It has been used by traveling armies since the days of Julius Caesar. Campaign furniture includes folding chairs, tables, and chests that could be easily unscrewed and packed.
It is pretty cool that the thing folds up like a modern day lawn chair but it is super heavy - like 40lbs. The leather is cracked and dried out and so it is never used as actual seating. The other day a friend and her kids stopped by and I turned around to see the little girl standing on the seat. I wasn't so much worried about the condition of the chair as I was about the little girl suddenly falling through and getting tangled in the base.
I had been talking about replacing the leather and was thinking of taking it in a totally unexpected direction by using like a black patent leather or purple leather or something. Yes, it will change the integrity of the antique but now it just sits there unused, waiting to trap little ones and that feels wrong.
After years of doing nothing and thinking about this "someday" project I came across these two images of campaign chairs that have been re-worked. Both are fantastic and have inspired me.
This chair is up for sale on Etsy! See it here.
Look at the lions holding the shield on the finials (?don't know what they are called) of the chair, it's so unique.
