August 17, 2012
Artifact: Wedding Chairs
Size: 21 x 19 x 49.5 inches (left); 21 x 19 x 51.5 inches (right)
Date: unknown
Significance: These wedding chairs came from Saint Peter Lutheran Church, East Saint Louis, Illinois.
The staff at CHI knows very little about these chairs except where they came from and that they were called “wedding chairs”; We would like to know more about them, including the following:
- Was it a common practice/tradition for Lutheran churches to have such chairs, or were they unique to this congregation?
- How were they used at the church?
- From when do they date?
- Was there significance in the difference in height (2 inches) between the two chairs, or was it
because they were custom made? - Depending on when the chairs were made, did this difference reflect gender and rank distinctions seen in parlor furniture at the time (a practice that was common in the Victorian Era)?
If you have any information about these chairs specifically or about other churches that had similar “wedding chairs,”; please contact CHI’s museum registrar, Rebecca Wells, at 314-505-7929 or click here to contact her by email.
