Chair #212

TWENTIES TENNIS UMPIRE CHAIR

—Designer unknown, through McKinnon and Harris

Tennis anyone?! Hold court in this Twenties Tennis Umpire Chair, only $6,000 from New York bases McKinnon and Harris. Rear wheels and wrought aluminum frame make the chair lightweight and easy to move around, so you can call the shots from anywhere. And isn't it great to be a head above the crowd?

Chair #211

LION CHAIR

—Designer unknown

Fabulously feline, isn't it? Today is my birthday, so in honor of that, and all the great LEOs out there, here is a magnificent stone lion chair. I can imagine sitting in this chair at the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum... you know, in that steamy, dreamy courtyard... the one with the Moorish windows that are always packed with flowers spilling out? Yeah, there.

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This impressive carved marble chair is from Florence, but now resides at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. It's unusual in the the lion arms are rather aggressive looking. Most chair designers opt for a more docile lion look. While the eagle and olive branch add a touch of formality, the chair balances out that and the mean looking lions with a combination of soft textiles. The seat is intricately carved to resemble a woven brocade, while twisted fringe and lace hang from the edges.

Chair #210

CLOUD CHAIR

—Designed by Richard Hutten

More than furniture, Hutten's Cloud Chair is a sculptural conversation piece of the heavenly kind. The chair was produced by Gallery Ormond in Geneva and exhibited at the Milan Design Show 2009. The limited edition chair is composed of polished, nickel-plated aluminum. A kind of embodiment of the silver lining that proverbs tell us all clouds have, Cloud Chair animates the ethereal cloud into a solid mass. From the back, Hutten’s chair is pure sculpture—a piece meant to incite conversation. It is only when viewed from the front that one notices Cloud Chair’s convenient seat, a sort of throne in which one would be enveloped by curves. From this kingly seat, one could reign over a kingdom of metallic creatures, all ghostly in their cloud-like bodies but nevertheless glossy. Short of a magical neverland, Cloud Chair might make it into boutique hotels and futuristic skyscrapers the world over.

Chair #209

SIDE CHAIR

—Designer unknown

The Table And The Chair

by Edward Lear

Said the table to the chair,
"You can scarcely be aware
How I suffer from the heat
And from blisters on my feet!
If we took a little walk
We might have a little talk.
Pray, let us take the air!"
Said the table to the chair.

Said the chair unto the table,
"Now you know we are not able!
How foolishly you talk
When you know we cannot walk!"
Said the table with a sigh,
"It can do no harm to try.
I've as many legs as you.
Why can't we walk on two?"

So they both went slowly down,
And walked about the town,
With a cheerful bumpy sound
As they toddled all around.
And everybody cried
As they ran up to their side
"See! The table and the chair
Have come out to take the air!"

But, in going down an alley,
To the castle, in the valley,
They completely lost their way
And they wandered all the day
‘Til, to see them safely back,
They paid a ducky-quack
And a beetle and a mouse
To take them to their house.

Then they whispered to each other
"Oh delightful little brother!
What a lovely walk we've taken!
Let us dine on beans and bacon!"
So the ducky and the little
Brownie-mousey and the beetle
Dined, and danced upon their heads,
‘Til they toddled to their beds.

Chair #208

THE ROOKIE CHAIR

—Designed by Juan Carlos Viso Ruiz

The winner of the 2002 Designboom/Sotheby’s Rocking chair competition was artist Juan Carlos Viso Ruiz, who created this very cool looking and practical rocking chair. It's made by the same technology used to make surfboards. It is high-density foam, reinforced with wood stringers and covered with pigmented fiberglass. Catch a wave on that!

Chair #207

DANIELE TETE A TETE CHAIR

—Designed by Jan Showers

What a looker this chair is with its clean white upholstery. Try and imagine another chair like this with the opposite arm, flanked next to it—a little tête-à-tête for some entre nous gossip.

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tête-à-tête

adv. & adj.
Without the intrusion of a third person; in intimate privacy:

talk tête-à-tête; a tête-à-tête supper.

n. A private conversation between two persons.

A sofa for two, especially an S-shaped one allowing the occupants to face each other.

[French : tête, head + à, to + tête, head.]

Chair #206

SONOMA LANAI CHAIR

—Designer unknown

This chair is offered through Reed Bros. from one of its 12 garden furniture collections. It's based in California, where it rarely rains and one can keep this sort of cloth furniture outside without worry of mold (or cold!) setting in. Large and luxurious, the Sonoma Collection is big and bold and over-scaled. Its simple lines and thick, deep cushions invite luxurious lounging. It can be ordered carved or plain.

Chair #205

CARTON CHAIR

—Designed by Super Limão Studios

X marks the spot! This is one of a few clever cardboard chairs from the Brazilian based Super Limão studio. The studio was started in Sao Paulo, Brazil's biggest city, and is run by architect Bia Hajnal, colleague and husband designer Sergio Cabral, and architect Thiago Rodrigues. The first two started designing with recovered and recycled materials in college, when they used to collect old computer boxes, and as their idea grew they joined Rodrigues in 2002. Driven by materials recovery and recycling, today the studio has several collections organized by the motivations and materials behind the products: plastic, paper, reel, recovered materials and other projects. Check them out, they have one the the most creative websites ever. See Chair #168 on June 17 of this blog for another cool Super Limão Studio carton chair.

Chair #204

PORTUGUESE HALL CHAIR

—Designer unknown

Talk about having a national flavor! Portuguese furniture such as this chair is often wildly ornate. Legendary seafarers returned to Portugal with delicious new materials—lacquer from the Orient, Brazilian jacaranda and mahogany, Indian rosewood, West Indian satinwood, African ebony—and with that wood came lots of delicious new ideas in furniture. Portuguese furniture incorporates unpredictable combinations from varied influences...sometimes Asian, sometimes English, sometimes Spanish. This particular chair is circa 1720, made of jacaranda with intricately embossed and painted leather.

Chair #203

STELTMAN CHAIR

—Designed by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld

This chair reminds me of a 3-D brain teaser puzzles I had as a kid.

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The asymmetrical Steltman chair (1963), designed for the Steltman jewelry house in The Hague, has the open composition of horizontals and verticals so characteristic of Rietveld. Each view is asymmetrical, yet the design itself is well-balanced. Material and space freely intermingle. I love that the Steltman chair is available both in a left-handed and a right-handed design. Although the original designs were upholstered in white leather, after Rietveld's death, examples were produced in pine and oak. The Steltman chair is a remarkable design. An able man at the age of 75, Rietveld reaffirmed his reputation as a totally free spirit when he created this chair from wood and leather that incorporated the same revolutionary qualities as designs he made as a member of the 'De Stijl' at the age of 30.

Chair #202

CARVED WOODEN EAGLE ARMCHAIR

—Designer unknown

The origin of this spectacular chair is a mystery, though it is rumored to be from a Florentine palace. Perhaps just one more treasure at the Medici's Palazzo Pitti? The uniquely carved eagle chair is an extraordinary example of zoomorphic furniture. Other examples would include griffins, lions, and sphinxes.

Chair #201

OCCASIONAL CHAIR

—Designer unknown

This quasi Klismos style chair, sans arms, has low legs and a wide seat. Sleek!

Chair #200

UPHOLSTERED CHAIR

—Designer unknown

“Marge, there's an empty spot I've always had inside me. I tried to fill it with family, religion, community service, but those were dead ends! I think this chair is the answer.”

— Homer Simpson

Chair #199

FUENTÉ CHAIR

—Designer unknown

What a beefy chair! Offered through Thomasville, this chair is upholstered in a bronze leather with antiqued brass tacks.

Chair #198

SLIPSTREAM CHAIR

—Designer unknown

Relax in brilliant retro modern style with the ultra cool Slipstream Chair. This modern chair has the kind of look that can effortlessly transform your space, adding a brilliant accent that’s sure to earn you plenty of compliments. The Slipstream Chair features a leatherette* seat and a white fiberglass body with a swivel base. Manufactured by Zuo Modern.

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*LEATHERETTE

Artificial leather is a fabric or finish intended to substitute for leather in fields such as upholstery, clothing and fabrics, and other uses where a leather-like finish is required but the actual material is cost-prohibitive or unsuitable.

Chair #197

HAND CARVED CHAIR

—Designed by Carl-Johan Boman

A native of Finland, the clean, futuristic lines of Boman's chair shows old-world craftsmanship. By contrast, the golden patina glow of the wood is warm and inviting.

Chair #196

CALYPSO ARMCHAIR

—Designer unknown

Offered through Crate & Barrel, this Calypso Armchair combines elegant woven rattan with stained ebony legs for a dramatic effect. This says refined plantation to me. Love the organic look.

Chair #195

1950 ITALIAN ARMCHAIR

—Designed by Paolo Buffa

Paolo Buffa, architect and designer, was one of those Italians that I can't find much information about, but with this fabulous chair we can clearly see that he was a man of enormous talent. He was born in Milan 1903 where he lived and died in 1970. He grew up in a house surrounded by art—his father Giovanni was an authority on the Liberty style of Milan and also a well known decorator. Paolo studied at the alternative School of Milan and in 1928 he opened his own studio with Cassi Ramelli. Together they designed houses, villas and buildings but Buffa’s true passion was furniture design. He started to produce objects of great elegance based in the Neo Classic style, typical of the School of Milan. His architecture designs are often listed as contemporary architect inspiration. This particular chair is upholstered in red!

Chair #194

ALEXANDRA FULL LEATHER PREMIUM CHAIR

—Designer unknown

Premium leather, check.

Swivels, check.

Cutting-edge contemporary look, check.

Chair #193

SYSTEM 1-2-3 LOUNGE CHAIR

—Designed by Verner Panton

Another classic chair by our old friend Verner Panton. The chairs have tubular steel frames upholstered in foam, then covered in cloth. They have a circular metal base. Aside from the absence of arms, this chair looks heavenly to lounge on.

Chair #192

HAND CARVED WOOD FRAME CHAIR

—Designer unknown

American, 1960s, hand carved wood chairs. Swirly-licious.

Chair #191

LOUNGE CHAIR

—Designed by Jorge Zalszupin

Made of Brazilian Rosewood, with chrome and enameled steel base. This chic little chair looks as though it'd be quite at home zipping down a ski slope. Well, ok, let's settle on the chair being in the lodge, near the fireplace. Claudine Longet and Spider" Sabich are both sitting in the chair, sipping some hot cocoa with a dash of Baileys Irish Creme.

Chair #190

CARLETON CHAIR NO. 115

—Designed by Jan Showers

Jan Showers' furniture manages to combine classical styles with that classic English country feel, for a look that's chic yet comfortable and free of pretense. Showers calls her style "glamour you can live with," maintaining that practicality and comfort are of paramount importance. Her style is tailored but fluid. Love the criss-cross welting.

Chair #189

CHINESE CHIPPENDALE ARMCHAIR

—Offered though Baker

Chair #188

DUTCH COLONIAL CORNER CHAIR

—Designer unknown

Chair #187

THE HARA CHAIR

—Designed by Giorgio Gurioli for Kundalini

This is billed as a bio energetic seat, whatever that means. Let's get technical. The amazing fiberglass shape, which looks to be a manufacturing nightmare, is accomplished by a mold that breaks into no less than 13 parts. Thirteen parts! The Hara chair was recently ranked #1 by GQ Magazine in their list of the "100 Best Things in the World."

Chair #186

KENO CHAIR

—Designer unknown

I know what you are thinking. School days. Taking tests on these types of chairs with the side arm desktop. I have a reoccurring dream of being back at school, going to my locker, and not being able to remember the combination.

Chair #185

GRENELLE SIDE CHAIR

—Designed by Roger Thomas

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right? This chair is part of an elegant 26 piece furniture line by Roger Thomas, just who happens to be the designer behind Sin City's splashiest hotel interiors, such as the Golden Nugget and the Bellagio. I just love saying that, bell-aaaaaahhh- geee-oh.

Chair #184

CARTER WING CHAIR

—offered through Mitchell Gold

Thing of it as chair bling. The oversized nails make an unabashedly, glamorous and jewelry-like statement. Gold finished nails studs on furniture were once termed "bullions" by 17th-century English upholsterers. In "Close nailing" the heads of the nails almost touched — they were "close" — and sometimes there were two and even three rows of nails. Nails created the scallops around the aprons of chair seats, glittery fretwork patterns, and spiraling shiny curlicues. On trunks and boxes, they even spelled out names. America's colonists liked them for damask and horsehair upholstery. Ornamental nailing was a British and American phenomenon. The Dutch and Spanish were quite serious about their nails. In the 18th century, upholsterers used three separate tools: an awl, to make the hole in the wooden frame; a delicate upholstery hammer with a small business end, and two prongs at the back for picking up individual nails or pulling out old ones; and a driving bolt to protect gilt nailheads from the hammer.

Chair #183

NATUZZI CHAIR

—Designed by Pasqale Natuzzi

Pasquale Natuzzi, chairman and chief designer of the Natuzzi Group, started his eponymous company in 1959. Natuzzi is the Italian leader of furniture, and his couches and sofas are famous worldwide for their original design and affordable. Those passionate Italians are extraordinary craftspeople.

Chair #182

PRIMITIVE WOOD CHAIR

—Designer unknown

This organic chair is from Southeast Asia, and carved from a tree trunk of unknown wood. The chair looks well worn and this polished from years of use. I can imagine it in some remote hut near the rice paddies of Asia. The rice farmer who owns the hut endures daily hours of backbreaking labor standing in mucky water, bent over, planting or picking his rice. He is wearing loose clothing and wearing his woven triangular coolie hat to shade him from the searing sun. What a welcome it would be to come home and sit in this solid chair with its high back... peaceful contemplation... sipping green tea.