- Key People:
- Harry Bertoia
- Marcel Breuer
- Arne Jacobsen
- Related Topics:
- wheelchair
- bodger
- stick-back chair
- LC1 chair
- sgabello
Chair
-
What is a chair?
A chair is a seat with a back meant for one person, but the term can apply to anything from a stool to a throne. The chair is one of the most ancient forms of furniture, dating back to ancient Egypt.
The chair is more than a physical support and aesthetic object; it is also an indicator of social rank. There are many variations of chairs designed for a personās age, physical condition, and position in society, such as high chairs, wheelchairs, executive chairs, and thrones. The chair evolved to conform to changing human needs.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What are the main parts of a chair?
A chair is designed to support the human form and can indicate social rank. The parts of a chair are named after parts of the human body: arms, legs, feet, back, and seat.
The chair encompasses a wealth of variations, such as chairs with or without:
* Arms
* Backs
* One, two, three, and four legsThere are also chairs that can be folded, chairs on wheels, high chairs, wheelchairs, executive chairs, and thrones. The chair's value is based on how well it supports the body.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What materials are commonly used to make chairs?
Chairs can be made from a variety of materials, each offering unique aesthetic and functional qualities. Since antiquity, metals like bronze, iron, and silver have been used in furniture construction. During the 18th and 19th centuries, iron became a typical material, especially for beds and garden chairs. Steel's possibilities were explored in Germany in the 1920s, leading to the use of tubular steel in furniture design.
Wood has also been a consistent choice, with ancient Egyptian chairs often featuring legs shaped like animals, and seats made of corded or dished wood. The Windsor chair, traditionally made in the High Wycombe District of Buckinghamshire, uses beech, elm, and yew. Upholstery, with materials like leather or embroidered fabric, adds comfort and embellishment. Modern materials include foam rubber and plastics.
3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How are chairs different from other pieces of furniture like stools or sofas?
The chair is perhaps the most vital furniture form because it supports the human form, unlike most other furniture, which supports objects. The term chair includes stools, thrones, benches, and sofas, which can be considered extended or connected chairs.
The chair has a wealth of variations designed for a personās age, physical condition, or position in society. Chairs may or may not have arms or backs, and they may have one, two, three, or four legs. They can be foldable, on wheels, or on runners. The parts of a chair even correspond to parts of the human body: arms, legs, feet, back, and seat.
Settees are upholstered seats with a back and arms designed for sitting or reclining for multiple people. Stools do not have backs or arms.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What are some different types of chairs and their uses?
The chair is one of the most ancient furniture forms, dating back to the 3rd dynasty of ancient Egypt. As a furniture form, the chair encompasses a wealth of variations.
Examples include:
* Klismos The ancient Greek klismos was once considered one of the most elegant chair designs.
* Scissors chair The scissors chair, or X-chair, has a seat supported on an X-shaped frame and dates back to Roman times.
* Windsor chair A stick-back chair consisting of a solid, saddle-shaped seat into which the legs, back staves, and possibly the armrests are directly mortised.
* Tubular steel chair Marcel Breuer developed the first tubular steel chair, a cantilevered form with a frame made from a continuous tubular strip after World War I.
* Barcelona chair Ludwig Mies van der Roheās Barcelona chair of 1929, with its gently curved steel supports and buttoned leather upholstery, is a modern classic.Chairs are designed to match a personās age and physical condition (the high chair, the wheelchair) and position in society (the executive chair, the throne). Modern living has developed special chairs for automobiles and aircraft.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How have chair designs changed throughout history?
Chair designs have evolved significantly throughout history, reflecting social status, technological advancements, and aesthetic preferences. Ancient Egyptians used chairs with animal-shaped legs, while the Greeks favored the elegant klismos chair. During the Roman era, the scissors chair, or X-chair, emerged.
Renaissance chairs ranged from easily movable to heavy, thronelike seats. The 17th century saw lavishly carved chairs, especially in Italy, while France saw more luxurious padding and carved arms. England adapted these styles, introducing the cabriole leg.
After World War I, Marcel Breuer developed the first tubular steel chair. Later, the Barcelona chair and experiments with laminated bentwood and molded forms by designers like Charles and Ray Eames further revolutionized chair design. Modern designs prioritize ergonomics and new materials, indicating future innovations in chair forms.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Chair, seat with a back, intended for one person. It is one of the most ancient forms of furniture, dating from the 3rd dynasty of ancient Egypt (c. 2650āc. 2575 bce).
It was common for early Egyptian chairs to have legs shaped like those of animals. The seats were corded or dished (hollowed) in wood and topped with a pad or cushion. The ancient Greek klismos was once considered one of the most elegant chair designs. The seat, of plaited cord, was supported on sharply curved sabre-shaped legs, tapering to the feet. The horizontal back rail, curved to fit the body, was supported on three uprights. The scissors chair, or X-chair, which had a seat supported on an X-shaped frame, dates back at least to Roman times. It was especially popular in the 14th and 15th centuries in western Europe and reached great heights of elegance in Italy during the Renaissance. Renaissance chairs were of two principal varieties: those light enough to be moved easily and those heavy thronelike seats used by the head of a household or other important people.
In Tudor England the chair for the master of the house had a heavy boxlike frame and was placed on a dais in the great hall. Turned (shaped on a lathe) chairs, which had been used from early times, reached their most elaborate forms at this time, their frames consisting of turned posts and spindles. Many chairs in the 16th century depended on upholstery for decoration. Square in outline, this type had a back formed by a pair of uprights spanned by a strip of velvet or brocade trimmed with fringes or a strip of leather, sometimes tooled. The material was held in place by large-headed brass nails. In the 17th century large numbers of richly carved chairs were produced. In Italy many pieces of furniture were the work of sculptors, the most outstanding of whom was Andrea Brustolon. His suite of chairs now in the Caā Rezzonico in Venice, with legs and arms carved as gnarled tree trunks and branches, arms supported by black boys with heads and arms of ebony and breeches of boxwood, marked his zenith.
" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">
In France the square lines of 16th-century chairs gradually gave way to more luxurious padding and carved arms ending in scrolls or animalsā heads. During the reign of Louis XIV, furniture became grander. Chair backs became higher and had curved tops, arms were sometimes upholstered, seats were wider, and woodwork was finely carved and gilded or painted.
In England the Restoration brought a similar trend toward more luxurious living, but the exuberant styles imported by large numbers of immigrant Continental craftsmen had to be modified for English tastes. A finely carved front stretcher became fashionable but was abandoned at the end of the 17th century with the introduction of the cabriole leg. The gently curved back and cabriole legs of chairs first used in the Queen Anne period in England remained popular for half a century. Rococo design showed itself in the ribbonback, or ribband-back, chairs (chairs whose splats are curved in an intricate pattern of ribbons and bows) and āFrench chairsā illustrated in Thomas Chippendaleās Gentleman and Cabinetmakerās Director, which also recorded the popularity of Gothic and chinoiserie (Chinese-style) designs.
American furniture makers sometimes adapted simplified versions of English styles from the late 17th century. Windsor chairs were particularly popular in the late 18th century and were developed to a greater degree than in England.
The Neoclassical movement in the 1760s led a return to straight but more delicate lines, with England and France setting the fashion for Europe. Straight tapering and reeded legs and square, oval, or shield-shaped backs were the mode. The most elegant English chairs of the Regency period and French chairs of the Empire period adapted the sabre leg of the Greek klismos. French chairs after the Revolution of 1789 were much simpler and more austere. England and France continued to dominate chair fashions throughout most of the 19th century, but styles were largely adaptations of those of previous eras.
The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.
SUBSCRIBE
After World War I the architect and designer Marcel Breuer developed the first tubular steel chair, a cantilevered form with a frame made from a continuous tubular strip. Ludwig Mies van der Roheās Barcelona chair of 1929, with its gently curved steel supports and buttoned leather upholstery, is a modern classic. Le Corbusier, a Swiss-born architect, experimented with laminated bentwood chairs, as did the Finn Alvar Aalto. Molded forms were extended to entire chairs in both plywood and plastic by the Americans Charles Eames and Ray Eames and the Finn Eero Saarinen. Among the developments of the late 20th century were the beanbag chair and an inflatable plastic chair. See also ladder-back chair; wainscot chair.