Child's chair see-saw of stained and varnished beech wood; UK, 1910-30

Child's chair see-saw or nursery yacht, of stained and varnished beech wood, consisting of a pair of rockers with an arm chair at each end. Each chair has a comb back, with turned arms, legs and back stays, a slatted seat, and a curved retaining bar (fastened with wing nuts). The pole-shaped rockers have a turned stretcher at each end, and a rectangular foot rest across the centre. The rockers are painted with a single line of red pigment, and the foot rest with an indented cartouche outline in red; the seat slats each have a black line within a pair of red ones; the retaining bars and the cresting rails each have a black cartouche within a red one. Each cresting rail is also decorated with a geometrical motif of four linked lozenge shapes in dark red edged with black and yellow.

Bought of Islington Artefacts, 12 & 14 Essex Road, London N1 8LN (RF 88/540)

The phrase 'see saw' is held to suggest counter movement, as indicated by the rise and fall of the children's plaything, and is said to derive from the rhythmical chants used by sawyers at work. Although the earliest printed use of the phrase in English only dates to 1640, see saws were around from at least the late middle ages, and in their simplest form consisted of a branch or plank of wood balanced across a log. These earlier versions were known by various dialect names such as 'jiddy cum jidy' and 'tetter-ma-tawter'.

This chair version is a much safer way of playing see saw, and suitable for very young children. Chair see saws were often found in kindergartens and infants' schools.

MISC.61-1988