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By Emily Barnby
Texas pioneers who traipsed hundreds of miles across flat,
dusty land had more to think about than how to arrange
their dining room furniture. As they settled their homes,
they often had to build furniture to outfit their new lives.
Lorena Mushinski, owner of Southern Grace Antique
Store in Bryan, TX, specializes in this primitive furniture,
as she's been a collector herself for many years. Her initial
draw to the furniture came from their trademark quality
and history: "Primitive pieces were so well made that I
could tell they...would last probably another 100 years,
and they always had such character that it really made you
wonder what all they had been through, witnessed."
Without electricity or indoor plumbing, pioneers had the
challenge of keeping food stored and pest-free. A common
piece of furniture was a pie safe, a wooden cabinet with
hinged doors and decorative punched tins that allowed for
ventilation and as a bug screen. Holding food and basic
kitchen staples, the cabinet often had tall legs or was rested
on bricks to keep it well off the ground and away from bugs.
The furniture points to a way of thinking that is vastly
different from current manufacturing. "Primitive
furniture was made using quality woods, by skilled
people that simply took their time building
a piece, making sure it was sturdy,
would last, would be worth the
investment," explains Lorena. "It
wasn't rushed. There wasn't
an assembly line. It was one
piece at a time."
The furniture was
utilitarian in purpose,
but the craftsmanship
in these pieces
alludes to the care
and artistry of the
carpenters. "Most
of the time these
pieces were made for their own family, meeting whatever
needs they had whether it be storing food, clothing, or
other household storage," says Lorena, who points out
that though "function was the priority, the handcraft
workmanship stands out as the beauty."
During her tenure as an antique dealer, Lorena has seen
the influences of primitive furniture on modern design.
"The simplistic and clean lines of the old wonderful
pie safes, cupboards, chests, [and] farm tables are being
copied by designers and manufactures," she says, "but as
hard as they try, the quality is still nowhere close to the
old standards."
Lorena affirms that age has only enhanced the beauty of
the furniture in her store. Whereas she once saw the wear,
the distressed and peeling paint, and the old-fashioned
look as something to be altered and updated, she now
honors the history in the furniture. If she does anything,
it's to preserve a piece: a protective finish to save the
peeling paint, or wax old, stained wood that needs
moisturizer--"just like the rest of us as we age!"
Southern Grace is
located in Downtown
Bryan at 102 S. Main
Street. For more
information, go to www.
southerngracevintage.com
or call 979.822.7770.