Rocking chair

Creator

Turck, Christian, 1811-1908

Date

• ca. 1845-ca. 1865

Summary

• Slat-back rocking chair attributed to Christian Turck, Washington County or Ozaukee County, ca. 1845-1865. Three back slats are slotted into round stiles and reinforced with nails. Turned legs and stretchers. Woven cane seat. Two tones of off-white or beige paint. Located in the Schottler House parlor, Old World Wisconsin, as of 2009.
• This chair was passed down in the family of maker Christian Turck and donated to Old World Wisconsin by Edna Hirt of Okauchee, Waukesha County in 1976. Born in Nassau, Germany in 1811, Christian Turck came to Wisconsin in 1845, settling in the community of Kirchhayn, Washington County. By 1856, the house Turck built in Kirchhayn had been acquired by another German settler, Adam Schottler, and Turck and his family were living in the community of Fredonia in neighboring Ozaukee County. Federal census records place the Turck family in Fredonia in 1860 and 1880; Christian Turck appears in the 1900 federal census for the Town of Saukville in Ozaukee County, living with his son John (Johannes) Turck and son's family. The Turck-Schottler house was moved to Old World Wisconsin in 1977 and is currently furnished with several examples of Turck's handiwork, including this chair as well as a table, cupboard, and bed. It is uncertain whether Turck built this furniture for his first home in Kirchhayn, which would date the works to ca. 1845-1855, or in Fredonia, which would place the works to 1856 or later.