Out of all furniture objects, the chair could be of the most importance. While most of the other items (save the bed) are devised to support objects, the chair supports the human form. The term chair is meant to be regarded here in the general sense, from stool to throne to complex items such as a bench or sofa, which can be considered as extended or connected chairs, and whose character (i.e., whether they are intended for sitting or reclining) is not evidently defined.
The social history of the chair is as exciting as its history as a creative art. The chair is not just a physical support or an aesthetic creation; it historically is a signifier of social place. In the historical royal courts there were social distinctions between being led to a chair with arms, sitting on a chair with a back but without arms, or worse having to squat on a stool. From the past century, the director’s or manager’s chair has developed a symbol of superior position, like in democratic parliaments the speaker sits on a higher level.
As its furniture purpose, the chair is utilised for a range of different models. There are chairs created to attend to man’s age and physical capabilities (the high chair, the wheelchair) and to indicate his rank in society (the executive chair, the throne). In past days there were chairs used for birth (birth chairs); in the 20th century, there have been chairs for ending life (the electric chair). We have chairs with one, two, three, and/or four legs, chairs with or without arms, and chairs with or without backs. We make chairs that can be folded, chairs on wheels, and chairs on runners.
Contemporary lifestyle has developed particular chairs for automobiles and aircraft. Each and every one of these chair kinds have been evolved to conform to changing human uses. For its unique connection with man, the chair exists to its full advantage only when being used. Although it does not make any difference to one’s appreciation of a cupboard or a dresser drawers if there are things inside or not, a chair is seen best and fairly regarded with a person utilising it, for chair and sitter complement one another. Thus the individual parts of a chair are given labels corresponding to the parts of the human parts: arms, legs, feet, back, and seat.
Because the basic job of the chair is to support the human body, its value is valued primarily on how completely it fulfills this practical role. Within the construction of the chair, the maker is limited with particular static regulation and principal measurements. Through these restrictions, however, the chair maker has extensive freedom.
The history of the chair extended over an epoch of several thousand years. There are peoples that held distinctive chair shapes, as expressive of the foremost endeavour in the areas of technique and design. Out of such peoples, special note should be made of ancient Egypt and Greece; China; Spain and The Netherlands in the 17th century; England in the 18th century; and France in the 18th century during the ascendancy of Louis XV and Louis XVI.
Egypt
Two ancient Egyptian chair forms, both the structures of careful make, are seen from tomb discoveries. The first of these two is a four-legged chair with a back, the other a folding stool. The original Egyptian chair would have four legs shaped as akin to those of an animal, a curved seat, with a sloping back supported by vertical stretchers. From this a stable triangular structure was crafted. There seems to be no particular difference in the structure of Egyptian thrones and chairs for ordinary peasantry. The simple variation exists in the intricacy of ornamentation, in the selection of more expensive inlays. The Egyptian folding stool most likely was manufactured for an easily packed seat for army. As a camp stool this type continued til much later days. But the stool then also took on the role of a ceremonial seat, its mechanical history as a folding stool neglected or forgotten. This can today be found, from as early as 1366–57 BC in two stools, formed in ebony with ivory inlay work and gold mounts, from the tomb of Tutankhamen. They are in the form of folding stools but are not able to be folded as the seats are created from wood. The simplistic construction of the folding stool, composed of two frames that rotate on metal bolts and support a seat of leather or fabric held between them, then appeared but some time later from the Bronze Age folding chairs of Scandinavia and northern Germany. The best known of this type is the folding stool, made out of ashwood, found at Guldhøj (National Museum in Copenhagen).
Greece and Rome
The unique Greek chair, the klismos, is found not with any ancient fossil still in form but from a large amount of pictorial items. The better known is the klismos placed on the Hegeso Stele at the Dipylon burial area outside Athens (c. 410 BC). It is a chair that had a backward-sloping, curved backboard and four curving legs, but only two of which would be displayed. These odd legs were presumed to have been executed with bent wood and were thus needed to bear huge pressure from the weight of the sitter. The joints attaching the legs to the frame of the seat are therefore super strong and were plainly signified.
The Romans adopted the Greek style; a number of models of seated Romans offer evidence of a denser and are a kind of more crudely crafted klismos. Both types, the light or heavy, were brought back as part of the Classicist time. The klismos chair can be evidenced in French Empire chairs, in English Regency, and in particular types of profound iconicism within Denmark and Sweden circa 1800.
China
The ancestry of the chair in China can not be followed as long as the ancestry of chairs in Egypt and Greece. Since the time of the Tang dynasty (AD 618–907) a full folio of images and artworks has been kept safe, with images of the interiors and outer parts of Chinese households and the designs of furniture. Kept also since the 16th century are a trove of chairs crafted of wood or lacquered wood, that display an amazing likeness to images of previous chairs.
Same as in Egypt, there existed two fundamental chair designs in China: a chair of four legs and a folding stool. The four-legged chair can be found both with and without arms though always having a square seat and straight stiles (standing side supports) to hold up the back. In one form, it has been seen, the stiles were delicately curved above the arms for the purpose of fit the structure of the S-shaped back splat (the basic upright of its back). Together, all three limbs were mortised onto the yoke-like top rail. Though the innovation of a back splat then had an inspiration for English chairs during the Queen Anne period, wooden members that just to a particular ability support corner joints (and furthermore were loose into the bargain) represent an element solely to Chinese chairs. The four legs pass through the seat frame, which finishes about the rounded staves. All the members are round in section or possesses rounded edges—a left over maybe to the bamboo tradition. The seat is not pleasant and may have had a plaited bottom. These chairs needed the sitter to be stiff and upright; for if too much weight is exerted on the back, the chair has a tendency to collapse. In patriarchal Chinese households of this era armchairs presumably were kept only for older people in the family, for they were given great esteem.
The Chinese folding stool is thought to have been brought to China from the West. It does not differ that much from the Egyptian or Scandinavian folding stools, but it possesses a change in that the top rail is elegantly fixed to the two legs of the stool by using a curved member, which is generally designed with metal mounts. From a Western viewpoint the resultant effect of these furniture items is stylized. The constructive and aesthetic issues are combined in a manner that is simultaneously naïve and refined. The patched up appearance is a result of the fact that the individual members do not look to have been put together by use of either glue or screws, but were mortised into one another and locked into position in the manner of a Chinese puzzle.
Spain: 17th century
The Golden Age of Spain of the 17th century also had its signature on the chair. Works of art show a type of chair with a relatively crude wooden frame; a back and seat, nailed on, possessing two layers of leather, with horsehair stuffing in between, stitched to bring up a pattern of little pads. The front board and a corresponding board in the back could be folded after unscrewing some small iron hooks. Thus the chair was an easily portable piece of furniture for traveling which, in the same time, gave the dignity of a four-legged, high-backed armchair.
The Netherlands: 17th century
A low, square, upholstered style of chair is displayed in engravings of the interiors of affluent Dutch homes by Abraham Bosse, a French artist, and also in paintings by the Dutch artists Johannes Vermeer and Gerard Terborch. While this type of chair might also be seen in countries where Dutch styles of interior decoration and Dutch furniture won critical acclaim, it is not determined that the form actually was born in The Netherlands. Usually, the legs of the chair were smooth, round in section, and of slender dimensions; they are occasionally baluster-shaped (vase-shaped) or twisted. It is clearly a bourgeois piece of furniture and was made in large amounts, as surmisable from one of Abraham Bosse’s engravings, in which an entire row of such chairs lined up against a wall. The form asserts itself with its harmonious proportions and fine upholstery in gilt leather or fabric bordered with fringes.
France and England: 17th and 18th centuries
The French Rococo chair in its most mature style—that is, as progressed in Paris around 1750—spread through most of Europe and was imitated or copied in the mid-20th century. The model owes this popularity to a combination of comfort and elegance. The seat suits to the human body and permits a relaxed sitting position. The back is bow-shaped, the legs curved. Normally the seat and back are upholstered, and there are small upholstered pads over the armrests. Smooth transitions are found between seat frame, legs, and back disguise all the joints, which are constructed on craftsmanlike methodology despite the absence of stretchers between the legs.
French Rococo chairs and imitations of them are made from wood of quite thick measurements; but all members are deeply molded, all extraneous wood has been taken away, and finer items might be further embellished with special delicate and decorative carvings. The wood could be varnished, stained, painted, or gilded. Silk damask or tapestry might be used for all of the upholstery on the seat, back, and armrests; crosshatched cane is in some cases used as an alternative to upholstery.
English chairs in the 18th century were more variable in design than the French. The French preference for stylistic uniformity, which came from the aristocratic circles in Paris and Versailles throughout most of France and became the favourite in many parts of the Continent, had no parallel in England. Prior to 1740, the most commonly used wood was walnut; thereafter, and for the rest of the century, it was mahogany. Walnut, though beautiful in hue, was soft and therefore less suited to wood carving than to rounded, curving forms. Outer surfaces, such as the back and seat frame, were usually veneered. During the walnut period, highly overstuffed armchairs, covered with leather or embroidered material, were also developed. The best upholstery of this period is precisely and firmly modelled and accentuated by braiding or tacks. When imports of mahogany became common, no specifically new chair designs appeared, but the character of the woodwork changed. Mahogany, having a firmer, closer grain, could be cut thinner, which meant that individual parts of the chair could be more slender in shape. Mahogany also lent itself better to carving than walnut. Carving was concentrated more on the arms and back than on the legs, which as a rule were straight and smooth with chamfered (bevelled) edges and molding. There was a wealth of variety in chairback designs, featuring elegant, pierced, vase-shaped splats or two upright posts connected by horizontal slats (ladderback).
Alongside the French Rococo chair and the best English chairs in walnut and mahogany, the stick-back chair was relatively unaffected by the stylistic changes of the day. Originally a medieval form, known, for example, from paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and still found in mid-20th century in the churches and inns of southern Europe, the stick-back chair (in all of its variations) consists basically of a solid, saddle-shaped seat into which the legs, back staves, and possibly the armrests are directly mortised. This typically peasant form underwent a renewal and a process of refinement in England and America during the 18th century. Under the name Windsor chair (a term that seems to have been used for the first time in 1731) or Philadelphia chair, it became popularised and was widely distributed throughout the world.
Late 18th to 20th century
Within the Neoclassical period, no basic changes took place in chair forms, but legs became straight and dimensions lighter. Backs in the shape of classical vases replaced the fanciful outlines of the Rococo period. Around 1800, freely executed imitations of Greek and Roman chairs of the klismos type, with curved legs and backrest, appeared. French chairs of the Empire period, executed in dark mahogany and embellished with ornate bronze mounts, created a ponderous effect.
In cheaper brands of inferior workmanship, bourgeois chairs of the 19th century carried on the traditions of the 17th and 18th centuries. The only real innovations were the bentwood (wood that has been bent and shaped) chairs in beech that became popular all over the world and were still made in the 20th century. Around 1900 the continental Art Nouveau and Jugendstil styles (French and German styles characterized by organic foliate forms, sinuous lines, and non-geometric forms), and the Arts and Crafts movement in England (established by the English poet and decorator William Morris to reintroduce idealized standards of medieval craftsmanship), gave rise to original chair designs by Eugène Gaillard in France, Henry van de Velde in Belgium, Josef Hoffman in Austria, Antonio Gaudí in Spain, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Scotland. These new furniture styles did not exercise wide, let alone decisive, influence. The Art Nouveau chairs designed by the French architect Hector Guimard, for example, are collector’s pieces, but his name is known to a broader public only because of his fanciful entrances to the Paris Métro.
Modern
After World War I, the Bauhaus school in Germany became a creative centre for revolutionary thinking, resulting, for example, in tubular steel chairs designed by the architects Marcel Breuer, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and others. During World War II, the aircraft industry accelerated the development of laminated wood and molded plastic furniture. The dominant chair forms of this period go back to designs by Alvar Aalto, Bruno Mathsson, and Charles and Ray Eames. Rapid technical developments, in conjunction with an ever-increasing interest in human-factors engineering, or ergonomics, suggest that completely new chair forms will probably be evolved in the future.
For a great deal on executive furniture in Sydney contact Fast Office Furniture today and check our specials.
Tangalooma Island Resort is a paradise found in Tangalooma, Queensland in Australia. Formerly, it was a whaling station and was formed into an island resort because of its rare flora and fauna and its wonderful views. Couples or families looking for a good getaway destination can expect to definitely cherish a Tangalooma Island Resort holiday.
Hawaii is home to many beautiful vacation destinations and holiday bookings to these tropical islands can be made by Travel Online. This iconic tourist destination is famous for its pristine beaches, moderate climate, world-standard shopping facilities, and distinctive Polynesian culture.