Grandpa Ammons made his own chairs. I watched in
awe as a child as he wove his magic after carefully framing the chair piece by
piece. I often wonder now why I didn’t ask him to teach me when I was that
8-year-old watching. I just sat there drinking in each movement of his strong,
yet gentle, hands. All of this came back to me in 1975 when I sat looking at one
of Grandpa’s chairs. I told my wife, Sherilyn, that I thought I could recreate
Grandpa’s movements that I remembered so well. I got an old chair frame and some
split oak splints and the rest is history.
Caning comes in many
disguises, but all of it is weaving. I watched Grandpa do only the herringbone
weave from white oak splints. However, there are many forms of weaving...wicker,
rush, splint, shaker tape, rawhide, Danish cord, binder cane, and the 7-step
method hand caning. Caning dates back to before 4000 B. C., I have learned, and is still popular in most
households today. Someone wise once said that the hands and mind of the caner
work together to join the past with the present.
The 7-step method
is the predominant pattern used in hand caning. It forms a strong, yet flexible,
seat that will last many years.
Splint
weaving is the most common method of caning in the Appalachian Mountains.
Splints were originally hand split from white oak, hickory, or ash. The homemade
chair maker would often split his own splints with which to weave (or as Grandpa
used to say, "bottom") a chair. Splints were easy to weave and made of the same
material as the chair. They were found around the home making it affordable for
the mountain craftsman to make his own necessary furniture. We don’t have to
make our own "necessary furniture" today, but I truly enjoy thinking about the
history behind caning as I sit down in front of someone’s old chair weaving a
new "bottom" for it. If old chairs could talk, what stories they could tell!
David Ammons,
brother of Amy & Doreyl, has been demonstrating at festivals for many years.
In 2006, he will be at the Greening Up the Mountains in Sylva, NC on April 29th,
at the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad RAILFEST Mountain Craft Fair in Bryson
City, NC September 16th & 17th; at WCU Mountain Heritage Day in Cullowhee on
September 30th (pending); at the Appalachian Arts & Crafts Bazaar at the
Jackson County Recreation Center in Cullowhee on October
21st.
If
interested in getting an estimate on caning your special chairs, you can contact
David at dfammons@charter.net, or give him a call at 864-244-6904 or email him
at: dfammons@charter.net
Here is Grandpa Tom
Ammons holding a bunch of grandchildren who all cried to sit in his lap.
l-r: Linda (Owen Vinson), Amy (Ammons Garza), David (Franklin Ammons), and
Doreyl (Ammons Cain).
