Uno Cygnaeus's Rocking Chair

Catalogue No. 0:8

Measurements: length 1790 mm, width 575 mm

Materials: wool, linen, leather, iron, horsehair, dried hay, cotton

The rocking chair is made of two forged side parts, which are joined together with five rungs. The rungs are fastened with ornamented brass nuts. The manufacturer is unknown, but the first metallic rocking chairs were made in England, where they received a great deal of attention in the 1850's. (Source: Heinonen-Vuoristo: Antiikkikirja). The rocking chair of Uno Cygnaeus dates back to the 1860's or 1870's.

The cover of the rocking chair is loop napped, locket ornamented thick wool fabric with cotton warp and linen weft. The colours are various shades of brown and moss green. A stuffing filled with hay is sewn to the rungs of the seat. On the lower edge of the cover there are three leather straps with buckles. The cover of the arm-rests is made of striped woollen weave that has linen warp. The cloth is fixed around a stuffing covered with linen fabric and filled with horsehair and dried hay.

The rug on the rocking chair and the cushions on the arm-rests are crocheted from soft cotton yarn. The rug is composed of five white and orange strips. As far as is known, the rug and the cushions are made by Cygnaeus' wife, Axienne Cygnaeus.

The topmost rug on the chair is knitted from wool into long red and white strips. The strips are joined together by crocheting. The white strips are decorated with spots, sewn in with olive green yarn. There are red-white-green fringes at both ends of the rug. The rug is lined with red cotton lawn fabric. On one corner of the lining there is a riveted tag with the text: "Tillhört Uno Cygnaeus/ Emma Irene Åström/ J.J.Huldén" (Belonged to Uno Cygnaeus/ Emma Irene Åström/ J.J.Huldén).