Geoffrey Giles
Kapunda, SA

Possum chair
blackwood

‘Jimmy Possum chairs were made by early settlers, many of whom were timber workers in the then isolated areas in and around Deloraine in the northern area of Tasmania. The furniture constructed by these people was made out of necessity and they needed to source their materials from whatever was available to them, utilising the skills they possessed.

‘I have been collecting and restoring antique furniture as a hobby for a number of years. I first came across Possum chairs by studying antique books and magazines and became very interested in them. On trips to Tasmania I went to view them in museums, heritage houses and private collections.

‘I decided to try making some chairs. I collected some blackwood in log and slab form from timber dealers in the north western part of the state. All work was done using tools that would have been familiar to the settlers, including: wedges and maul, adze, side axe, draw knife, shaving horse, augers, rounding planes.

‘I built the chairs in the traditional manner that most of the chairs were made with a highly raked back, a split and adzed seat, riven legs and small spindles. The leg tenons were sized with rounding planes, The joints were wedged and the comb was pegged in three locations. The surface finish was direct from the tool not sanded, with a finish of linseed and turpentine applied over many months.’existing floor. The choice of legs was also fairly obvious. Years ago I had found some old cast iron bathtub legs. They had been lying in the dirt for decades and were badly rusted, but were so unique that I had spent the time resurrecting them.’