Over the last couple of Weeks K and I have had a few chances to see some really fantastic Ethnic Furniture collections. One was pretty exclusively Doukhobor, and really really refined beautiful stuff, another collection was on display at a Mennonite house barn museum in southern Mb.- in which a few of our chairs (which are possibly Mennonite), and a sweet little carding bench of ours made an appearance. The furniture we collect is not quite museum quality (this stuff can get expensive) but it's all handmade- and after a few envious days of looking at collections that we will never ever be able to put together- we figured out what it is that drew us to this furniture in the first place.
The people who built it had nothing- not even the money to buy good quality wood- a lot-if not all of our furniture was made out of second rate wood- apple crates-2 x 4's, old doors you name it- but the person who made it knew what they were doing- they wood pegged it, dovetailed, scalloped, made rounded drawers, they had nothing but skills. And we love that- it's a reminder of the people who were hardy enough to survive out here in Manitoba; the immigrants who settled out here, who, despite their serious lack of goods made the best stuff with what they had.
There's lots of old furniture out there that isn't so well made, it's true, but when you come across the stuff that is well done, it's priceless. ( not literally priceless, mind you, wouldn't that be grand if it was?)
( more photos of our furniture here)
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