A Short History of the Chair
Author: Graham Baylis

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.


About the Author:

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