Wing Back Chairs
October 13th, 2010
Are you interested in chairs? If so, in this article we are going to take a brief look at the history of chairs, a famous chair designer and a special kind of chair named a Wing Back Chair. After you have read this article you will know a brief history of chairs, you will have met a chair designer and you will have discovered what Wing Back Chairs are.
First of all lets take a brief look at the history of chairs. The history of chairs is as fascinating as it is long. In the very distant past a chair was only used by people of extreme importance or of high office. In fact you can still see the importance in the many committees and academic departments that have a ‘chairman’ as well as in the UK’s House of Commons. Before the 16th century the chair wasn’t really common anywhere, people chose to sit on benches or stools. Only in Ancient Egypt or later in China were people thought to have used chairs but still they were reserved for the elite.
After the 15th century with the spread of wealthy noblemen settling down into more permanent homes across europe came the start of using chairs as furniture. The Renaissance later brought the chair into the homes of anyone that could afford to buy one. The idea of it’s use only by the privileged and elite soon faded away and it shot into general useage by the masses.
Since then of course there have been many designs and changes to the basic chair. One such chair designer was named Thomas Chippendale, who originated from Yorkshire in England. Chippendale was born in 1718 and grew into a master craftsman who had a gift for adapting existing styles to the mid 18th century fashions. Thomas Chippendale built a very successful company manufacturing a wide range of furniture including various styles of Wing Back Chairs which had grace and curves. The Chippendale style was widely copied and continued even after the death of Thomas in 1779.
What are Wing Back Chairs?
Wing Back Chairs are a style of chair that has rolled, filled in arms and protruding wings above the arms at head level sometimes extending down to meet the arms. See the image to the left. Usually, but not always fully upholstered with exposed wooden legs(See Upholstered Wing Back Chairs). The main purpose of the wings and filled in arms is to provide the seated person with comfortable protection against draughts and to trap the heat around their head and body as they would have normally been positioned in front of a roaring fire.
So, in conclusion you can see that chairs had a long and interesting history and early on were only used by the elite of society or the head of important groups. We learned that it wasn’t until after the Renaissance that chairs became more widely used by everyone and many designs became prominent. Then we had a quick look at a very well known furniture designer named Thomas Chippendale from England who designed and made many chairs including Wing Back Chairs.
We also looked at the design of Wing Back Chairs and learned what they looked like and how they were used. Of course, just reading this article won’t make you an expert in chairs but hopefully you may have learned something and if you liked reading it then please check out the other articles which can be found on this website.
More information on Wing Back Chairs can be found at Wikipedia.
