Chair #365

CANTILEVER (CHAMPAGNE CORK) CHAIR

—Adam Weisgerber

POP! Well, it's New Years Eve, and that that means that with this Chair du Jour post I'll have successfully completed my goal of painting 365 chairs! They rock, swivel, swing, recline, glide, or just sit there lookin' good. Hope you've enjoyed the ride as much as I have.

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I think this cork chair is the perfect one to end the year with because who doesn't love champagne, dahhling?! And a miniature chair design contest involving a bourgeoisie item like champagne is irresistible, oui, n'est pas? This year Design Within Reach (DWR) sponsored its 4th annual champagne chair contest, and one particular DWR store had a champagne fueled reception sponsored by Veuve Clicquot for this year's top contestants. Of course you know Veuve Clicquot, that's the wicked good stuff with the orange label, and my favorite, wink wink, if you're ever a guest of mine. I'll bet you a bottle that you've taken the cork, the cap, and that little wire doo-hickey thing that holds all that bubble combustion in, and created something or other with it whilst the bubbly was being consumed. But these imbibing designers put our cork and wire doodles to shame. They were brilliantly inspired, and who wouldn't be by all those delicious, golden bubbles? The rules were simple and the results extraordinary—you've gotta Google it to see all the results for yourself.

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Veuve Clicquot Champagne History

When her husband died prematurely, a young Madame Clicquot decided to take up the reins of the champagne estate he began. Veuve means widow in French, and the widow Clicquot is who we can thank for giving us such sublime bubbliciosity with her Veuve Clicquot champagne. Known as the Grande Dame de la Champagne, the widow Clicquot's spirit is in every bottle of champagne sold by Veuve Clicquot, reigning over an empire of bubbles. In July 2008 the oldest unopened bottle of Veuve Clicquot was discovered inside a sideboard in Torosay Castle, Isle of Mull, Scotland. The 1893 bottle was in mint condition, having been kept in the dark. It is now on display at the Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin visitor centre in Reims, France and is regarded as priceless. Oooh la laaa!

Chair #364

ZIG ZAG CHAIR

—Designed by Michael Malmborg

We have another zig zag chair on this blog (See March 9, chair #68). From the LXE website: This unique chair has no beginning and no end. The design concept is the same as when you write a complete sentence without lifting the pen – in a circle! This serpent inspired lounge chair almost forces the spectator to examine it closely. And despite it’s abstract look, it’s quite comfortable. The strong aluminum alloy frame and a thick layer of supporting foam, it perfectly balances the weight of anyone who dares. Using a new technology (Swiss deep flocking) we spray a soft velvet surface directly on to the foam, leaving the upholstery seamless.

Chair #363

CELERY CHAIR, with peppers, carrots, & sno pea

—Designed by Craig Nutt

Eat your peas and carrots! On his website Carig Nutt writes: The Celery Chairs have bent celery stalks for back legs with a sno pea as the back rest. The front legs are either peppers or carrots, and the spindles in the back are carrots on the chairs with pepper legs and peppers on the chairs with carrot legs. Eight of these chairs were produced in 1992-93. Six of the eight were painted "natural vegetables" and a pair was produced in naturally finished Swiss pear. The seats are covered in supple leather in either eggplant or squash blossom color. The chairs have been exhibited in numerous museum and gallery exhibitions and featured in publications such as American Craft.

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I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me

are the number of carats in a diamond.

—Mae West (American Actress and sex symbol, 1892-1980)

Chair #362

AFRO INSPIRED CHAIR

—Designed by Yangsoo Pyo

Korean furniture and lighting designer Yangsoo Pyo has created a series of ‘Afro’ chairs. The ‘Afro’ chairs are made of notebook ‘2 ring springs attached to a steel frame. It employs the image of the unruly, curly afro hairstyle. The metal springs that are taken from 2 ring binders are used to visualize the tangled and puffed up texture of an afro. While the springs create a wonderful visual effect without proper treatment they may make the ‘Afro’ chair an uncomfortable seating option.The chairs come in silver, black and blue versions. The blue stool-like ‘Afro’ chair was inspired by the hairstyle of the Simpsons character Marge Simpson. Doh!

Chair #361

HOUDINI DINNER CHAIR

—Designed by CtrlZak Design Studio

The CTRLZAK Art & Design Studio, is led by Thanos Zakopoulos & Katia Meneghini. They have a very interesting website and are based in Milan and Greece. How bad can that be?

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Harry Houdini (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian American magician, escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer. He also was a famous skeptic who set out to expose frauds purporting to be supernatural phenomena. Among his stunts, such as being buried underground, or escaping form handcuffs, was one of his most popular publicity stunts... his famous escape from a suspended straitjacket!

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Houdini's suspended straitjacket escape

Houdini was to have himself strapped into a regulation straitjacket and suspended by his ankles from a tall building or crane. Houdini would then make his escape in full view of the assembled crowd. In many cases, Houdini would draw thousands of onlookers who would choke the street and bring city traffic to a halt. Houdini would sometimes ensure press coverage by performing the escape from the office building of a local newspaper. In New York City, Houdini performed the suspended straitjacket escape from a crane being used to build the New York subway. After flinging his body in the air, Houdini escaped from the straitjacket. Starting from when he was hoisted up in the air by the crane, to when the straitjacket was completely off, it took Houdini two minutes and thirty-seven seconds. There is film footage of Houdini performing the escape in The Library of Congress. After being battered against a building in high winds during one escape, Houdini performed the escape with a visible safety wire on his ankle so that he could be pulled away from the building if necessary.

— From Wikipedia

Chair #360

EXPO MARK II SOUND CHAIR

—Designed by Grant & Mary Featherson

What a great chair and, ahem, conversation piece! Read on and you'll understand my lame joke.

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Expo 67 Montreal was an opportunity to showcase Australian innovation on the world stage and a highlight of the Australian pavilion were 240 original Expo Sound chairs. Robin Boyd, designer of the pavilion's interior and displays, commissioned Melbourne-based contemporary furniture designers Grant and Mary Featherston to develop a 'talking chair' to deliver information about Australia to visitors in seated comfort. The chairs were upholstered in dark green wool with either a green cushion for English audio, or an orange cushion for French audio. Speakers installed in the headrests were activated by the pressure of a person sitting in the chair. An audio system controlled from the basement played three-minute segments of well-known Australians talking about Australia and the exhibits surrounding the visitor. The system, which cost $1 million to produce, was designed so that if an occupant of the chair left in the middle of the tape, it would start again from the beginning when a new occupant sat down. A total of 2000 tapes were made to withstand the wear and tear of being used 12 hours a day, seven days a week for six months. The estimated life of a tape under these conditions was four to six weeks. The National Museum of Australia recently acquired an Expo Mark II sound chair, adapted for the domestic market from the original Expo chair design by Aristoc Industries.

—From the National Museum of Austrailia Website

Chair #359

CHILD's DRUM CHAIR

—Designer unknown

Circa 1040s. England, this whimsical little drum chair is very fun indeed! And it seems like an appropriate chair for JC's birthday. Merry Christmas everyone!

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Little Drummer Boy

Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

So to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
When we come.

Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
That's fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum,
On my drum?

Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum.

Chair #358

GULLHOLMEN ROCKING CHAIR

—Designer Unknown, Offered through Ikea

Those clever Swedes, this is such a simple design. This minimalist rocking chair is made of renewable banana leaves and rattan woven which has been over a steel base. It is quite comfortable to sit in and massages your pressure points. Which points are those, I wonder? And it's affordable.

Chair #357

LADY CHAIR

—Designed by Marco Zanuso

This delightful little chair has pink wool upholstery with brass legs. Reminds of that famous cocktail of the 30's, the Pink Lady. It's a fun "girly drink" for sure!

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Pink Lady Cocktail

A pink lady is the classic gin-based cocktail. Egg-whites and cream are mixed together to create a foam that floats on top of the drink to give it a unique texture. The Pink Lady is a classic cocktail that has a light blush color given by the dashes of grenadine—which is a pomegranate syrup. It was one of the first "girly drinks" and a favorite of the high society ladies of the 30's. The key to this drink (and any shaken with egg) is to shake it longer than you would with most cocktails to ensure that everything is mixed well. The egg also makes a great foamy top of the pink liquid, creating an intimate looking finished cocktail.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 oz gin

3/4 oz applejack (what is that stuff anyhow?)

1/4 oz lemon juice

1-2 dashes grenadine

1 egg white

maraschino cherry for garnish

Preparation: Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the maraschino cherry.

Chair #356

VENETIAN GONDOLIER'S CHAIR

—Designer unknown

No doubt that some cool Italian in a striped shirt designed this. Imagine this chair perched in a hand carved gondola—shiny and black as the night—and gliding through the secret canals of Venice? This beautifully painted and parcel gilt Venetian Gondolier’s Chair sold for a mere $1,500 at a Christie’s NYC auction on September of 2009. That's amore!

Chair #355

VALET CHAIR

—Designed by Hans Wegner

The perfect chair for the uncommon man, the valet chair has style. Hans Wegner, a Danish designer, created this chair in an effort to solve the problem of how to properly hold every article of a gentleman's clothing set at the end of the day to preserve their form without wrinkles. The seat flips up so a gentleman can stash away his wallet, keys, cufflinks, watch, i-pod, or whatever. Wegner initially conceived of this chair with four legs but was unsatisfied with the heavy-looking form. The final model with a tripod base is sculptural as well as utilitarian. Very James Bond.

Chair #354

SNAKE CHAIR

—Designed by Eileen Gray

From the Cobra chair to the Snake chair! Eileen Gray, who died in 1976, was an Irish furniture designer and architect and a pioneer of the Modern Movement in architecture. In February of 2009, Gray's Snake Arm Chair was sold for an astounding $28,238,277 at Christie’s auction of Yves Saint Laurent et Pierre Bergé ’s collection of artifacts. What a snake charmer.

Chair #353

COBRA CHAIR

—Designed by Carlo Bugatti

Hard not to miss where the name came from. It looks like a cross between a cobra and one of those old fashioned doctor scales. Created in 1902, Bugatti was way ahead of his time, wasn't he?

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Cobra clearly illustrates Bugatti love for smooth, flowing lines and uncomplicated architecture. Even though his design is simplistic and delicate, it reveals Bugatti's imagination. Designed to furnish Carlo's 'Snail Room' at the Turin exposition of 1902, the seat and back of this chair are joined into a single continuous curved form, giving it a futuristic look. The innovative use of a cantilevered seat in this design anticipates an important feature of many chairs made later in the 20th century, especially some employing bent wood or tubular steel frames. This piece also shows how Carlo had begun completely covering his furniture in parchment, a technique which hid all joints. Decorations are made of hammered copper, pencil and paint. Cobra chair is covered with parchement and leather.

Bugatti's painted wood side chair with a copper medallion, made for a room used for games and conversation. Shaped like a cobra, its sweeping curved support and circular back and seat are covered in parchment and inscribed with floral and geometric motifs reminiscent of Islamic art. The chair's open design served a practical purpose, allowing men's coattails and women's trains to hang down behind the seat.

— from DesignMatcher.com

Chair #352

0.8 CHAIR

—Designed by Omer Arbel

Wow, what a thin profile! Apparently this design would not be structurally sound with just any traditional material. The 8.0 chair uses a structural concrete called Ductal, which is close to steel strength at an impressive ten times stronger than good old concrete. As the name suggests, Ductal is also ductile, so it will flex rather than crack. One question though anyone see a starfish with a missing arm?

Chair #351

HABIT CHAIR

—Designed by Takeshi Iue

Killer minimalism. Born in Osaka, Japan and now based in Adelaide, Australia, Takeshi Iue is an up and coming designer who is clearly influenced by both traditional and contemporary Japanese design. He runs his own studio producing furniture and lighting with subtle and minimal forms, such as this Habit chair. Nice clean lines.

Chair #350

ROCKING OIL DRUM CHAIR

—Designed by François Royer

François Royer has given us a fresh take on the familiar oil-drum-chair concept. This one looks quite cozy, doesn't it? The seat inside is made of waxen smoked bamboo, while the outer oil drum is painted in a vibrant, shiny orange color.

Chair #349

MOROCCAN PIDA CHAIR

—Designer unknown

One great thing about this chair is that it's affordable. But other than that, it's cultural and cool. A pida chair is a classic low seat common in India, but iterations of it are seen throughout Indonesia as well. This particular chair is intricately carved from Indian rosewood, and has a lovely jute weave on the seat. The final result is a dark aged rustic look that would transform any room to another world, another time. Imagine that you are wrapped in a gorgeous pink sari. Your hair is pulled up with flowers in it. A pink and orange colored batik tapestry hangs behind you on the wall, a Ganesha sculpture is sitting nearby sending out success vibes. Candles are lit all around, and you are sipping black Assam tea. Absolute serenity.

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GANESHA

Ganesha—the elephant deity—is one of the most commons icons for anything associated with Indian religion and culture. The son of Lord Shiva and Parvati, Ganesha is believed to be the remover of all obstacles and is prayed to before the beginning of any significant occasion. Thus Ganesha is known as the deity of SUCCESS! He is the destroyer of evils and obstacles, and is also worshipped as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth. I know, good guy to have on your side, right? Ganesha sculptures are extremely popular in India and abroad. He is a deity with the body of a man and the head of an elephant, a big belly, a broken tusk and a jovial nature. Ganesha is usually depicted with more than two arms, a mouse and a serpent.

Chair #348

PALTRONA CONOLOUNGE CHAIR

—Designed by Ricardo Vargas & Abi Jarkowiec

This is so darn clever. These two hip Chilean designers have recycled beefy cardboard tubes from periodical printer rolls into this fun chair. They connected them using a sturdy, green steel bar.

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From the Ricardo Vargas & Abi Jarkowiec website:

Mais uma dessas idéias simples porém com impacto é a poltrona Conolounge, criada pelo estúdio de design chileno Onceneto, dos designers Ricardo Vargas and Abi Jarkowiec, é feita com tubos de papelão e aço. Com certeza é um bom exemplo do design ecológico.

Chair #347

SMARTIES GEOMETRICS CHAIR

—Designed by Mattia Bonetti

Does anyone out there remember the penny candy that looked like this? It was a strip of paper like a registry strip with candy dots all lined up on them, and upon it were rows of pastel rainbow colored dots that we kids would pull off and eat with zeal.

Chair #346

THRONE CHAIR

—Designed by Carlo Bugatti

Carlo is from the same designing family of Italy who gave is the stunning Bugatti automobile.

From the Bugatti Trust website: Carlo Bugatti (1856 - 1940) was born in Milan and became an artist and designer of international renown. He trained at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts and was greatly influenced by the early exponents of the ‘New Art’ in their reaction against the heavy, ornate, classical, Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo styles fashionable in the mid 19th Century. Carlo married Therèse Lorioli and they had three children – Ettore, Deanice and Rembrandt. Some of Carlo’s talents, his individuality and his approach to his art, whether by nature or nurture, seemed to resurface in the following generations of his family.

Chair #345

SUGAR CONE BAR STOOL

—Designer unknown

How fun, and delicious in lime green.

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There are all sorts of ice cream cones....Sugar cones, waffle cones, and even kiddie cups. It's a cornet or cone-shaped pastry, made of a wafer, usually with a decorative with criss-crossed ridges on it, similar in texture to a waffle. Ice cream is served in these clever cones, allowing it to be eaten without a bowl or spoon. To me there is something sort of gross about frantically liking ice cream before it melts on a warm summer day. It feels a little barnyard to me, and so I generally go for the cup and spoon method of attack, with the cone on the side. Much more civilized. The sugar cone has a pointed bottom, and the waffle cone has a flat bottom that can be set upon a table. Sugar cones are much better tasting, in my humble opinion.

French cook books going back to 1825 mention the edible cone, except they called it a coronet, and most likely stuffed it with a gorgeous pastry cream and/or fruit. Julien Archambault describes a cone where one can roll "little waffles." The first cones were lovingly rolled by hand, forming the cone shape immediately after the biscuit came out of the oven and was therefore still warm and pliable. Lotta love there, making cones by hand. Thankfully in 1912, an inventor from Portland, Oregon named Frederick Bruckman patented a machine for rolling the conical confections. He sold his company to Nabisco in 1928, who are still producing ice-cream cones today. Something to note, Ben & Jerry's make their own ice-cream cones.

Chair #344

ART DECO EXPO CHAIR

—Designer unknown

This is a darling little miniature sized chair, and although I don't know much about it I think it would look great in a little dollhouse, wouldn't it?

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A dollhouse is a toy home, made in miniature. For the last century, dollhouses have primarily been the domain of children but their collection and crafting is also a hobby for many adults. Today's dollhouses trace their history back about four hundred years to the baby house display cases of Europe, which showed idealized interiors. Smaller doll houses with more realistic exteriors appeared in Europe in the 1700s. Early dollhouses were all handmade, but following the Industrial Revolution and World War II, they were increasingly mass produced and became more standardized and affordable.

—From Wikipedia

Chair #343

CROSSED LEG 'LIVING' CHAIR

—Designed by Vladimir Tsesler & Sergei Voichenko

Ooh la laaa. Zee legs... zay are magnifique!

Russian designers Vladimir Tsesler and Sergei Voichenko came up with this ingenious seating design called the Living Chair. The design of the Living Chair was inspired by the human form (predominantly the female form) and legs. A pair of skinny, sexy legs sit crossed legged at the front to form a stable tri-pod. It comes in a feminine electric pink or red. Interesting that the chair is a tripod shape, because it would seem that the person using it would have to straddle it with their legs open, or else sit side saddle with their legs crossed. Having said that, I'd like to see someone sitting upon it.

Chair #342

DENTAL CHAIR

—Designed by Chengli Hung

This is not your average dental chair, is it? Chengli Hung has designed this moon-shaped, yellow upholstered dental chair in such a way that unnecessary parts of components are finely hidden in the body shell. This is not only a much more simpler way to keep it clean, but I imagine it is also meant to reduce the stress of the patient. Open wide!

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Anti Dentite

Term coined in a Seinfeld episode defining people who hate or dislike dentists. It's deeper than that...you have to see the snippet. Go to You Tube if you don't know what I am talking about.

Chair #341

BOUQUET CHAIR

—Designed by Tokujin Yoshioka

SCRUMPTIOUS! I guess I have a weakness for these flower themed chairs. And this is not just a plain old petal chair—It's a whole bouquet of loveliness! Hand-folded Alcantara fabric petals cover a simple egg-shaped shell, all atop a lacquered steel base. And the great thing is that the petals resume their original shape after it's been sat upon. This bouquet will last a lot longer than that dozen roses you just bought at the market. Tokujin came up with this idea on a simple realization — bouquets make people happy.

Chair #340

ARMADILLO CHAIR

—Designed by Aodh O'Donnell

This emerging young designer created this chair from pieces of laminated wood. Lots of em.

Remember the stuffed armadillo in John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany? One of my favorite books of all time, and I am not embarrassed to confess that I cried my heart out at the end. Needless to say, the film didn't do it's justice at all.

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Chapter 2, The Armadillo

Where most of those men are awkward and diffident around John, Dan Needham gives him a mysterious paper bag. He tells John not to open it, but to alert him if it moves. As the adults talk in the living room, John is unable to resist the temptation, and opens the bag. He sees a horrible monster, and screams. Dan laughingly tells John's mother, "I told you he'd open the bag! "The monster, it turns out, is merely a stuffed armadillo, a prop Dan was using in his lecture at Gravesend Academy. He has just been hired as a history professor, focusing on the way drama and performance distinguish different historical epochs. He gives the armadillo to John to keep, and John cherishes it. Owen also loves it, and the two of them create a game in which one of them hides it in the John's grandmother's attic, and the other has to find it.

—Excerpt from John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany

Chair #339

VASA INTESTINA CHAIR

—Designed by Lisa Jones

This unusual chair is from the designer's Symbiosis chair series. It's intricately cut wood on a delicate steel frame. This is both beautiful an ugly to me. The beautiful part of it reminds me of those delicate sea coral fans, and the ugliness of it reminds me of a skeleton. A med student might appreciate this more than me. Still, it's unique, and we like that here at Chair Du Jour.

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Symbiosis basically means ‘living together’ and in the context of marine biology refers to a close relationship between two species. As an example, think of the Clown fish and the anemone in Finding Nemo.

Chair #338

DRUNKEN EGYPTIAN CHAIR

—Designed by John Knott

How did this chair get its name? Look at the chair upside down... it's what a drunk Egyptian might make.

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Ancient Egyptians Drank Medicinal Wines

“Doctor’s orders,” the pharaohs may have said with a wink as they took swigs of wine. At least 5,000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians had begun a long-standing tradition of infusing their libations with medicinal herbs, according to a new chemical analysis of residues on wine jugs. The earliest written evidence for the practice comes from Egyptian papyri that date to 1850 B.C. The new find pushes archaeological evidence for medicinal wines back to 3150 B.C., the beginning of Egyptian history. The wine jar was found in the tomb of Scorpion I, one of the first pharaohs.

—John Roach, author of Uncorking the Past

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We think of Egypt when we think of pyramids, but did you know?... The Mesopotamians built the earliest pyramidal structures, called ziggurats. In ancient times these were brightly painted. Since they were constructed of mud-brick, little remains of them.

Chair #337

BLOOM CHAIR

—Designed by Kenneth Cobonpue

Flower power, baby. We've seen several petal chairs on this blog this year, but this is the loveliest to me. It is created from microfiber stitched overtop resin with a steel base. I would love several of these magnificent chairs scattered about in my garden. They'd surely make a big impact on any sized garden, or even on a sunporch. The only hard decision would be what color to get.

Chair #336

EGYPTIAN THRONE CHAIR

—Designer unknown

In ancient Egypt the chair was a symbol of authority and prestige. In modern days to own a replica of an Egyptian chair would seem slightly eccentric, and certainly attention demanding, yet these are for sale all over the internet. This replica throne chair is similar to King Tutankhamen’s Egyptian Throne Chair, from the tomb of the boy king. The original King Tut chair is 3,500-year old, and in a museum in Cairo. This chair is painted in the rich palette of Egypt, with blues and reds, and hand-finished with authentic gold leaf. Each 84 lb. chair requires a full two weeks to craft. A lot shorter than those pyramids took to craft, even with the slave labor.

Chair #335

CROWN CHAIR

—Designed by Tom Dixon

Tom Dixon is a Brit, of course. After all, who else but a loyal servant to HRH Queen Liz would come up with this Crown Chair? He's had an interesting life. He was born in Tunisia, and moved to London as a young lad just out of diapers. He fell into design quite by accident when he found himself with, in his own words, “time on his hands” while recovering from a motorcycle accident around 1983. He was an art school drop-out with no technical training, but he taught himself how to become a designer-maker in while repairing his motorbike... no doubt after the aforementioned motorcycle accident! His first proper job was as head of design at the Habitat retail chain, and now he is with Artek, the Finnish furniture manufacturer. He has successfully combined the creative with the commercial throughout his career. Tom Dixon is also the genus who gave us the gorgeous svelte S Chair. See Chair #87 on March 28th of this blog.