I could be COMPLETELY wrong, but it looks like a style of American furniture called "Early American," which was produced for the mass market in the 1950s-1960s (I believe).

I agree with Organic - a nice looking, early american style bench from the middle of last century. Was it ever sitting in water - the bottoms of the legs look like the finish is damaged, as if it were sitting in a couple inches of water at some point. Not that it can't be cleaned up. I could see this painted black with a rubbed finish, or perhaps an old barn red, with a great cushion on it. A nice piece to have! Could also work as seating on one side of a dining table perhaps?

I could envision it painted black with a little metallic gold stenciling(sanded lightly to dull), and give it a more up-to-date look, kind of 'le French'.

Agree with Organic and Les, definitely an early American piece.

Thanks for the response...when u all say early american style ..does that mean it is a reproduction or original to the time..?

also Les917..when u say painted black with a rubbed finish..could you kindly elaborate,cause that is exactly what i had in mind..but dont know how to go about it.

I got some sandpaper and some mahogany stain to make the bench darker..,but painting seems easier..please explain how to do that ..thanks.

It means that it was manufactured in the mid-twentieth century for the mass market, and is a strongly modified version of true Early American furniture. When I was growing up, it seemed like every other family on the block had this style in their home. It's not high quality, valuable furniture, so you don't have to worry about it losing value if you paint it, etc. But I think it will look wonderful painted.

As for how to do the painting itself, I will leave that to Les, Patty, and the other experts. :)

Early american in this case is a reproduction or modern interpretation of the early american time period (about 250 years ago). No, this is not original to that time, but likely is original to the middle of the 20th century. However, since it was mass produced furniture, it is likely not rare or valuable. But that doesn't make it great to have!

Others here have lots of great experience with furniture, and if you search you can find information about how to do finishes. Basically, tho, you are going to want to sand the piece, especially on the seat and legs where the finish is damaged, but all over to remove the shine. I would probably use a primer first, then several coats of black paint. A matte or satin finish would be my preference. After the paint is thoroughly dry, you can take a finer grit sandpaper and lightly sand back the finish along the edges of the front of the bench, the part of the arm where people might have touched them alot, etc. It is supposed to look like normal wear might. Remove all the dust, then you can put on a sealer coat or use a furniture wax and buff it.

As an alternative, adding some stenciling as patty cakes suggests is a great idea, too!

Thanks so much for all the information.really appreciate it.I think i shall go get some paint and get to work on it.

thanks once again.

And I believe that the Early American furniture from the 1950s was made of maple.

I was thinking it was probably maple too, just by looking at the pictures.

Here's one we were working with on another thread (LOTS of PICS ... broadband required :)

Here is a link that might be useful: EA Bench

yes, I was going to say maple also.

sanketi,

That bench looks VERY similar to the one I got from my mom that I've been working with in my foyer. It's an Early American style bench made of maple that she bought in the 1950's. My mom always referred to it as a "Deacon's Bench". Here's mine. I still plan to have a cushion made for it and remove the pillow and throw. I just haven't gotten that far yet.

Definitely Early American style and with near certainty maple (an excellent hard wood but does not take well to a new stain color after stripping, it's do-able but very tricky and takes a lot of extra steps and work to condition the wood). Years ago I got a hard rock maple antique table at auction for a song. Didn't know it was maple because it was coated in gobs of old army green paint. Stripped it, tried to stain, it was blotchy and horrid. The wood on that table was so pretty to me I just left it nekkid and put on some poly for protection ;) Paint would be the way to go for a change with the bench. Black or bittersweet would look awesome! I'd use a self-leveling enamel, those are wonderful on furniture. Take a bit more time to work with but you'll get a smooth 'factory' look finish. You'll need to prep well (scuff sand, prime). I use Cabinet Coat, Faron says Ace Hardware's cabinet paint is great as well (I trust him ;).

Thanks ....wow..!!there is a wealth of information here and knowing how difficult it is to stain maple ,I think i shall just paint it black.

Squirrelheaven..thanks for the link..that was a lot of pictures and was so inspiring.

Mimi...that sure is very similar to my bench..have you ever refinished it in any way...?

Paint is usually the best for pieces of this period because of that issue about the weird way maple takes--or doesn't take--stain. The problem becomes really obvious on spindle-turned elements. Here's a room I put together for some friends that used a similar bench.

These pieces are not high style, but as long as the glue joints are good, mid-century reproductions & adaptations often hold up better to daily use than do most new [imported] pieces in similar styles.

I remember they were widely available well into the 1970s, at least in Maine the "fad" for having Colonial this-and-that in your house (OMG, the patriotic wallpaper... *shudder*) continued right up through the Bicentennial. Seems like everyone I knew had one (we also called them a deacon's bench), and there were often both arm and side chairs and rocking chairs to match. Quite a few people used them with a dining table: a bench on one side, armchairs at the head and foot, armless chairs opposite the bench. Seems like it was always with a trestle table for that Revolutionary tavern atmosphere! LOL The funny thing is, though, they were rarely stained like that - the ones I knew were almost always painted black with gold paint accenting some of the turnings! Sometimes the top horizontal thingy (the name is escaping me right now) and arms were left natural maple with the rest black and gold, but I didn't see that often. Most of the time there were cushions on them, the tufted kind that tie on at the back, because your butt would go numb if you sat on them for a long time. :-)

They're still pretty readily available new (and ranging from quite cheap to "OMG they want HOW much??"), at least here in New England, and the 1950s-1970s ones are staples of the antique barns and used-furniture stores.

Agree w/mari. Around here they're not abundant, but not hard to find, either. There's one I've had my eye on at a local antique store, but the guy jacks his prices up way too much and even tho his inventory moves at a snail's pace, he just won't budge on the price. And he's got some really cool, true antiques, whereas I'd consider this a mid-century/vintage piece. (I really don't see how he can afford the rent on the place, because I've been popping in and out of there a few times a year for several years and many of the same pieces are still there!)

I figure if I don't find one on CL or at a yard sale in the meantime, sooner or later he's going to come down on the price just to clear it out of there ;)

sanketi...

No I've never done anything to the finish on the bench. For some reason it's survived all these years unscathed. My mom usually kept a cushion on it so I guess that helped. I do remember we had a dining table that sat about 10 with only 2 chairs so we pulled in anything we could find to have enough seats. A couple of us kids always got the deacon's bench :-)

Mimi

I have my Mom's old maple "deacon's bench" in my attic, too. It's so strange to have them placed in the mid-century category - I grew up with it in our foyer - and I realize I, too, would be categorized as mid-century. When did that happen?!

Mine has fewer curves and no turns on the spindles, leaning more toward a mission style. It has fruit in muted tones painted(is the term tole painted?)on the top back piece.

It is notably heavy for its size; sturdy and solid where its joined. Every time I see it, I think I should refinish it and give it a new life. With the tips I've read in this post I'm finally inspired!

P.S. Don't tell my sister I have it!