We at Chairry can’t think about chairs as being common objects and we simply couldn’t do that since we’ve seen so many. We’re even on a constant lookout for new special models to add to our portfolio and we keep finding designers that surprise us in very pleasant ways.
Of course, we can understand that those who are not very close to our field don’t give chairs much thought. After all, we see them in almost every room and common sense tells us that they’re utilitarian first of all.
But if we really think about it, we can tell that the chair wasn’t actually built out of necessity. No doubt, people needed to sit down in Ancient times too, but they could have continued using elements that they already found in nature – rocks, logs and so on. Actually, for quite some time common people did just that, but leaders chose to show off their status even with the chairs they ruled on. In fact, it seems that it wasn’t until the sixteenth century that the chair started to be perceived as an ordinary object. And maybe it’s not by chance that we still think about the throne as a symbol of kings and queens, even if we’re talking about modern monarchies.
And if you’re curious to find out more about the chairs of history, know that the chairs in Ancient Egypt were truly special, made of ebony and ivory, with precious stones inlays and detailed sculptures. The legs of the chairs were all inspired by animal feet because it was essential that the chairs would represent natural shapes in order to avoid chaos in the Universe because of the creation of an artificial object. Furthermore, in The Valley of the Kings there was found an actual armchair, extremely well preserved, and its design details resembled a lot with the “Empire” style in Napoleon’s time.
The first Greek chairs seem to have been made in the sixth and seventh centuries BC and even in the sculptures of the Parthenon there were found representations of Zeus sitting on a richly ornamented chair and decorated with sphinxes. The same kind of ornaments was found on the typical roman chairs, made from marble or wood. There are even mentions of the chairs of Aztecs and those too were only meant for leaders and dignitaries.
The Asian cultures adopted the chairs later than any other people and it would seem that it wasn’t until the twelfth century of our era that this kind of furniture became widely spread in China (although there are Buddhist murals from the sixth century that portrait them). Of course, not even nowadays it’s not that of an unusual habit to sit on the floor in China, although Korea and Japan seem to have distanced themselves from these habits.
And us, today, integrated the chair in our daily routines more than any other piece of furniture, starting with our office chairs that support us while we work and moving on to our kitchen stools on which we sit when we eat, our sofas that hold us comfortably when we watch TV and so on.
