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A Short History of the Chair

By Graham Baylis

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Published: 02Mar2009
Word count: 637
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Chairs as you can imagine have a long history, for as long as there has been man (and woman) there has been the need to sit down on something comfortable, or as comfortable as was available, affordable and most importantly perhaps "allowable".

Why "allowable", well throughout history chairs have reflected the status of the person sitting on them. The size, decoration and sheer ornateness of the chair saying a lot about the person sitting in it. Indeed in classical times to the time of the pharaohs, the chair was reserved for the high and mighty, only kings, lords and bishops were allowed chairs at all, the rest of the populace had to do with sitting on chests, benches or stools.

The church and the chair have an even deeper connection, as the word "chair" derives from the Latin "cathedra", the connection being the designation of a church that was the "seat" of a bishop as a cathedral.

The chair however goes far further back than Latin however, the Egyptians having created some highly ornamental chairs for their pharaohs, while the Ancient Greeks way back in 1400BC were building chairs with four sturdy wooden legs, their design, the klismos being adopted by the Romans who introduced it in all the territories they conquered.

Chairs were developed rich carvings and polychromatic surface treatments for the important members of society, but by the mid 1650's chairs became common and were often upholstered. By the mid 1750's most carpenters and chair designers had got the message that the chair should not only look good, but should be actually be nice to sit on too, hence chairs that hugged the contours of the human body were produced. These chairs had bow shaped backs and curved legs, the arm rests were padded (and in many cases richly embroidered too). It was incidentally, during this period that the 'chaise lounge', the precursor of the sofa was developed, this being a chair on which a lady could recline.

The French too are said to have a great effect on the evolution of the chair, the first truly lightweight and comfortable chairs being developed by French chair designers. Their efforts sparked off a whole class of upholstered chairs, including sleeping chairs, armchairs, wing chairs, and a chairs characterized by having seat heights more convenient for uses other than at a dining table or desk, e.g. slipper chairs and lounge chairs.

In Victorian England the legs of chairs were covered in many cases, as it was feared that they too closely resembled those of a women and as such might inflame the senses...

Chair construction methods have changed dramatically over the years too.

During the 18th century, before furniture production passed largely into the realms of mass production and of factories, chairs were made with even more curves than before, a process that required considerable more material, the curved sections, the legs and backs, being usually sawn out of solid wood in one piece.

In fact, the progress from straight (and sometimes turned legs) to shapes such as the cabriole and the klismos, and the development of designs not requiring stretchers, (these relying on other techniques like knee blocks and corner blocks) can be followed as a logical timeline up to the point where commercial pressures for continual change and innovation resulted in the riot of revival styles that characterized the 19th century.

Of all the types of furniture, the chair in fact presents the greatest structural challenges, as they have to address the inherently weak part of a chair's construction, the joint between the seat and the back leg, an area especially strained when the occupant leans or tilts backwards.

So the humble chair has not only an interesting history, it also is a structural work of art too.

Long live the comfy chair.

Chairs are needed by everyone and for about just about any event, but if they can be comfortable and stackable too, then that is even better. Burgess Furniture have been producing quality stackable tables and chairs for many years. See their extensive range at http://www.burgessfurniture.com and also at their German site at http://www.hs-bankett.de

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