He’s stuffed a chair on every street,
or hassocks on which to put your feet.
A fainting couch for Ms Récamier,
looking Grecian but really fey.
A modern Egg for Madmen there,
Took ten thousand hand stitches to be fair;
An Eastlake love seat whose threads were bare
Was given new life, it’s only fair!
Mattresses made of coir and hair
His long needle made them square,
And before he bought his trusted Pfaff,
He had to keep a larger staff.
You take for granted what you see,
But behind the saddle, the sofa, the seat,
Is a person who understands upholstery,
Who has a flair for passementerie!
Tassels thrill him with delight,
and not the ones that twirl in the night,
An unusual man I’ve got as my mate
Because he talks of gimp when on a date!
Real upholsterers still spit tacks
And use hide glue to mend frame’s cracks
He knows that biscuits make tufted backs,
His best friend’s are puppies and cats!
Upholstery conservators are a dying breed
The old skills falling out of fashion
But when you’ve sent new sofas to the dump
And you’ve paid a yen for the uncomfortable lump,
The foam’s collapsed, and left a lump,
And your family’s in a frump.
His trade will again be a needed deed,
And he’ll come racing on his white steed
Or you’ll be stuck in your cheap contraption.
For those of you who dare think twice
Who doubt his worth
Who’ll send them into dearth
It’s your buns who’ll pay the price!
~ by Kate and Mitchell Powell
American Antebellum Sofa
©MPF Conservation. May be printed for your own use ONLY,
not for use on blogs without permission.
I love it! You guys keep on keepin’ on! ♥
I am so glad you love these!
Ha ha – funny and true. You got yourself a good man, Kate and he has a good woman at his side.
Blushing! xoxo
I love this more than I can say
In a restoring furniture kind of way
The work is a meow of the cat
Extraordinairy and that’s that
Two thumbs up for the workmanship and poetry. I love the love seat – it’s my favorite!
Oh hands clapping with delight! Yeah! And that love seat becomes a loveseat-fold-out bed….
Brilliant. I love the way you used pictures and added poetry to it. I liked the chair in the first picture. Is it a sofa? I don’t know what it is called. A lot of hard work goes into making it.
Thanks! It is a recamier, or fainting couch… Now you will notice them in portraits from certain eras!
What wonderful works of restoration
For these furnishings of old
Are as valuable as gold
I’m a poet and I Know It
Hope I Don’t Blow it
Tom, I’ve been away from the MPFC Blog for a while and just now found your comment. Thank you so much for your kind words and observations; the coveted Golden Award for Excellence in Blog-Post Commentary is on it’s way to your home as I write!:)
Love it 😁👍
Thanks so much!