in need of repairs

Appalshop and the chairs of Chester Cornett

I was always excited to travel throughout Appalachia while researching and writing ‘Backwoods Chairmakers.’ I can clearly remember the early morning anticipation while traveling to Whitesburg, KY, about five years ago to connect with the staff at Appalshop. Appalshop (a nonprofit that records and holds both stories and artifacts of Appalachian culture) owns the final chair Chester Cornett built during his prolific career. It is the rocker featured in the ‘Hand Carved,’ in which Herb Smith and Elisabeth Barrett documented Cornett’s chairmaking process while shooting the 1981 Appalshop film. I enjoyed the orgainization’s films and photography archives years before visiting them to see the chair in person.

[The photograph doesn’t do it justice. It’s a beautiful piece, with large parts, hand carved pegs, and an octagonal hickory bark seat. The chair has a presense that either attracts or repulses other chairmakers. I’m among those drawn to Cornett’s work.]

This Appalshop Chair, along with a table and a set of Cornett dining chairs, were signficantly damaged during the deadly 2022 flooding in Eastern Kentucky. The first floor of Appalshop’s building was completely underwater. Appalshop is currently looking to raise funds to have this work restored (along with other damaged artwork) and brought back to good condition. If this interests you, as it does me, you can support the efforts here. (I’ve missed sharing this before “Giving Tuesday”….though I think they’d appreciate support on any day of the week.)

Another point of connection with this story is the chairmaker doing the restoration work…Terry Ratliff. I’ve mentioned Terry on before. He’s made ladderback chairs from his home near Martin, KY for 40+ years and completed repairs on the Cornett Rocker years ago (when a young Appalshop staffer’s dog chewed on one of the rockers). He best knows Cornett’s work and building methods, since Terry works in much the same way.