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staves

The back of the chair is probably made up of several vertical pieces of wood, separated by gaps. Those pieces (the "staves") are cylindrical.
Staves in a barrel or a woman's corset are usually flat elongated sticks of wood or, in the cased of a corset, whale bone or something like it. Here the upright pieces rising from the seat of the chair are round. Every couple of inches around the edge of the seat in the back there are pieces of wood about 2 centimeters in diameter forming the back you rest against.
In my mind the original "staves" were created by coopers who made wooden barrels. The art of coopering is slowly dying out, but will never disappear entirely as long as we continue to drink wine and whiskey.

Whether used in a barrel or on a chair the shape is always the same: A stave is always wider in the middle than at the ends.

Here are some barrel staves:



Here is an illustration of a barrel identifying the staves. A cooper's stave has to be precisely fitted because it has to be leak-proof without the use of glues:

In my mind the original "staves" were created by coopers who made wooden barrels. The art of coopering is slowly dying out, but will never disappear entirely as long as we continue to drink wine and whiskey.

Whether used in a barrel or on a chair the shape is always the same: A stave is always wider in the middle than at the ends.

Here are some barrel staves:



Here is an illustration of a barrel identifying the staves. A cooper's stave has to be precisely fitted because it has to be leak-proof without the use of glues:

Thanks 👁 Smile :)
the pictures really helped.
We call round 'staves' spindles. 'Spindle-backed' chairs are very common here, associated usually with a simple farmhouse or country style. Some modern sophisticated simple styles especially Danish also use spindles, or the flat strips called 'slats'.
English furniture tends to be heavily upholstered.
DH Lawrence wrote this in 1911. I have had a bit of a search and it seems that the term "spindle-back" referring to chairs came into the written language only a short time previously, in the late 19th century. At the time he was writing, spindle turning was an important woodland industry in Buckinghamshire (by 'bodgers' - a local term). Turned parts went into commercially manufactured chairs, of a wide range of qualities.

It seems possible that he was describing a different type of chair, in which the parts of the chair were made by cleaving, not turning - he doesn't say that it is a chair with a spindle-back, he says it is an armchair made of round staves. That is, it's not just the back that has round staves. That sounds to me like a country-style chair made by a local chair-maker using froe, axe and shave to cleave and shape staves, not turning spindles on a lathe. An ordinary chair to find in a miner's small cottage.
DH Lawrence wrote this in 1911. I have had a bit of a search and it seems that the term "spindle-back" referring to chairs came into the written language only a short time previously, in the late 19th century. At the time he was writing, spindle turning was an important woodland industry in Buckinghamshire (by 'bodgers' - a local term). Turned parts went into commercially manufactured chairs, of a wide range of qualities.

It seems possible that he was describing a different type of chair, in which the parts of the chair were made by cleaving, not turning - he doesn't say that it is a chair with a spindle-back, he says it is an armchair made of round staves. That is, it's not just the back that has round staves. That sounds to me like a country-style chair made by a local chair-maker using froe, axe and shave to cleave and shape staves, not turning spindles on a lathe. An ordinary chair to find in a miner's small cottage.

Barrel staves are "rounded" that is curved in both the length and width. Wood turning (spindle making) was not a widely practiced craft in some areas. There were gypsy woodworkers that I've read about that traveled and made turnings (spindles, etc.). Wagon spokes, which could quickly and easily be made on a lathe were typically made by hand with a spoke shave.

The point I am making is that I don't think we will be able to pin down what exactly Lawrence meant when he wrote "round staves".

Interestingly it appears that D.H. Lawrence had a thing for chairs and wrote a poem called "What is he?": D.H Lawrence on the subject

What is he?
-A man, of course.
Yes, but what does he do?
-He lives and is a man. [...] And he makes quite beautiful chairs.[...]
As an amateur chairmaker 👁 Big Grin :D
I think I can have a good stab at what Lawrence meant. The armchair is a child's, but an adult one would be much the same. No lathe involved.

View attachment 21917


I'll buy that. It makes a lot of sense.

Making good chairs is a challenge. A poorly constructed one will wobble and fall apart fairly quickly.

But what was Lawrence's point in describing the chair as such?

Here is more information than anyone needs about shaved post and rung chairs: Jennie Alexander, Peter Follansbee, and Robert F. Trent | Early American Shaved Post-and Rung Chairs | American Furniture 2008

Early American Shaved Post-and Rung Chairs
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