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101-473: The Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano (or simply Salone del Mobile) was launched in 1961, with the original focus being Italian furniture. The original sponsors were furniture manufacturers from the Federelegno-Arredo trade association. The trade show grew in size over the years, allowing many of the 13,000 companies which comprised the global furniture industry to showcase their wares in

202-465: A footrest ; a rocking chair has legs fixed to two long curved slats; and a wheelchair has wheels fixed to an axis under the seat. Chair comes from the early 13th-century English word chaere , from Old French chaiere ("chair, seat, throne"), from Latin cathedra ("seat"). The chair has been used since antiquity, although for many centuries it was a symbolic article of state and dignity rather than an article for ordinary use. "The chair"

303-452: A bow behind the chair. Covers for sofas and couches are also available for homes with small children and pets. In the second half of the 20th century, some people used custom clear plastic covers for expensive sofas and chairs to protect them. Chair pads are cushions for chairs. They contain cotton or foam for padding. Some are decorative. In cars, they may be used to increase the height of the driver. Orthopedic back-rests provide support for

404-515: A chair. Among the better off, the chairs might be painted to look like the ornate inlaid and carved chairs of the rich, but the craftsmanship was usually poor. The earliest images of chairs in China are from 6th-century Buddhist murals and stele , but the practice of sitting in chairs at that time was rare. It was not until the 12th century that chairs became widespread in China . Scholars disagree on

505-428: A chair; for example, the legs and frame may be made from metal and the seat and back may be made from plastic. Chairs may have hard surfaces of wood, metal, plastic, or other materials, or some or all of these hard surfaces may be covered with upholstery or padding. The design may be made of porous materials, or be drilled with holes for decoration; a low back or gaps can provide ventilation . The back may extend above

606-404: A crimson tinge in its natural state. Birch is frequently stained to complement other types of wood in furniture. Birch is used to make a lot of transparent, cabinet-grade plywood because it absorbs stain well and finishes beautifully. Birch is frequently used to construct interior doors and cupboards in addition to furniture. Restoring a piece of furniture may imply attempting to repair and revive

707-422: A distinction is made between fauteuil and chaise , the terms for chairs with and without armrests, respectively. In Germany, an armchair was once called a Krankensessel , or sick-chair, because it was intended for people who were too ill to stand or sit without extra support. If present, armrests will support part of the body weight through the arms if the arms are resting on the armrests. Elbow rest height

808-430: A formal meal or banquet. A work chair is a specialized chair, adapted to the needs of a particular profession or setting. For example, a designing chair will be used for designers who sit at high easels; it will usually have added height. Some chairs have two curved bands of wood (also known as rockers) attached to the bottom of the legs. They are called rocking chairs . A kneeling chair adds an additional body part,

909-436: A quite distinct history. The traditions out of India , China , Korea , Pakistan , Indonesia (Bali and Java) and Japan are some of the best known, but places such as Mongolia , and the countries of South East Asia have unique facets of their own. The use of uncarved wood and bamboo and the use of heavy lacquers are well known Chinese styles. It is worth noting that Chinese furniture varies dramatically from one dynasty to

1010-420: A readily available material that could be worked easily and turned into items for use within the household. Each house shows a high degree of sophistication and was equipped with an extensive assortment of stone furniture, ranging from cupboards, dressers, and beds to shelves, stone seats, and limpet tanks. The stone dresser was regarded as the most important as it symbolically faces the entrance in each house and

1111-422: A simple three legged structure with a concave seat, designed for comfort during labour, and the much more ornate folding stool, with crossed folding legs, which were decorated with carved duck heads and ivory, and had hinges made of bronze . Full chairs were much rarer in early Egypt, being limited to only wealthy and high ranking people, and seen as a status symbol; they did not reach ordinary households until

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1212-626: A single event. The current show occupies an area of nearly 230,000 square metres (2,500,000 sq ft), and includes 2,500 companies, along with 700 young designers at the SaloneSatellite , a secondary exhibit which was founded in 1998 by Marva Griffin at the request of Cosmit  [ it ] managing director Manlio Armellini . This parallel exhibition features young and emerging designers, collaborations with universities and design schools, and aims "to enhance links between research, design and industry, focusing on designers under

1313-529: A single table, rather than a collective use of a larger piece. Tables also figured prominently in religious contexts, as indicated in vase paintings, for example, the wine vessel associated with Dionysus, dating to around 450 BCE and now housed at the Art Institute of Chicago . Chests were used for storage of clothes and personal items and were usually rectangular with hinged lids. Chests depicted in terracotta show elaborate patterns and design, including

1414-410: A stool. If matched to a glider chair, the ottoman may be mounted on swing arms so that the ottoman rocks back and forth with the main glider. A chair cover is a temporary fabric cover for a side chair. They are typically rented for formal events such as wedding receptions to increase the attractiveness of the chairs and decor. The chair covers may come with decorative chair ties, a ribbon to be tied as

1515-418: A thin layer of expensive wood on the surface. The earliest used seating furniture in the dynastic period was the stool , which was used throughout Egyptian society, from the royal family down to ordinary citizens. Various different designs were used, including stools with four vertical legs, and others with crossed splayed legs; almost all had rectangular seats, however. Examples include the workman's stool,

1616-453: A variety of woodworking joints which often reflects the local culture. People have been using natural objects, such as tree stumps, rocks and moss, as furniture since the beginning of human civilization and continues today in some households/campsites. Archaeological research shows that from around 30,000 years ago, people started to construct and carve their own furniture, using wood, stone, and animal bones. Early furniture from this period

1717-400: A veneer using an expensive wood, such as maple or ebony. Greek furniture construction also made use of dowels and tenons for joining the wooden parts of a piece together. Wood was shaped by carving, steam treatment, and the lathe, and furniture is known to have been decorated with ivory, tortoise shell, glass, gold or other precious materials. The modern word " throne " is derived from

1818-493: A volcanic hanging chair that is handmade out of volcanic rock. Peter Brenner, a Dutch-born German designer, has created a chair made from lollipop sugar – 60 pounds (27 kg) of confectioners' sugar. Chair design considers intended usage, ergonomics (how comfortable it is for the occupant), as well as non-ergonomic functional requirements such as size, stacking ability, folding ability, weight, durability , stain resistance, and artistic design. Ergonomic design distributes

1919-545: Is American black cherry. Cherry is a light reddish brown to brown color that intensifies into a rich color as it ages, and grows mostly in the eastern United States. Cherry has a tighter grain than birch and is softer. Much cherry lumber is narrow, and it has been utilized to make many lovely classic furniture pieces. Birch is a sturdy, durable, even-textured hardwood that is common in the United States and Canada. The wood appears white or creamy yellow to light brown with

2020-437: Is a type of seat , typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood , metal , or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in various colors and fabrics. Chairs vary in design. An armchair has armrests fixed to the seat; a recliner is upholstered and features a mechanism that lowers the chair's back and raises into place

2121-505: Is also used to hold objects at a convenient height for work (as horizontal surfaces above the ground, such as tables and desks ), or to store things (e.g., cupboards , shelves , and drawers ). Furniture can be a product of design and can be considered a form of decorative art . In addition to furniture's functional role, it can serve a symbolic or religious purpose. It can be made from a vast multitude of materials, including metal , plastic , rope and wood . Furniture can be made using

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2222-409: Is altered). However, padding does distribute the weight by increasing the area of contact between the chair and the body, and thus reducing the amount of pressure at any given point. By contrast, a hard wood chair feels hard because the contact point between the occupant and the chair is small. In lieu of padding, flexible materials, such as wicker, may be used instead with similar effects of distributing

2323-420: Is amongst the oldest known furniture types, and authors including Encyclopædia Britannica regard it as the most important. In addition to the functional design, seating has had an important decorative element from ancient times to the present day. This includes carved and sculpted pieces intended as works of art, as well as the styling of seats to indicate social importance, with senior figures or leaders granted

2424-485: Is an early work showing his and his wife Jeanne Claude’s iconic style of partially or wholly hiding objects within wrapped cloth and ropes. Their work developed into large-scale public site-specific artworks and environmental art, which the pair are most well known for. For Wrapped Chair , Christo plays with the identity of the object by concealing parts and revealing others. There are multiple variations of this work and similar ones involving chairs displayed at museums around

2525-532: Is based on environmentally friendly design. Its use and popularity are increasing each year. Industrialisation, Post-Modernism, and the Internet have allowed furniture design to become more accessible to a wider range of people than ever before. There are many modern styles of furniture design, each with roots in Classical, Modernist, and Post-Modern design and art movements. The growth of Maker Culture across

2626-468: Is derived from various sources, including literature , terracotta , sculptures, statuettes, and painted vases. Some pieces survive to this day, primarily those constructed from metals, including bronze , or marble. Wood was an important and common material in Greek furniture, both domestic and imported. A common technique was to construct the main sections of the furniture with cheap solid wood, then apply

2727-720: Is known from artwork such as a Venus figurine found in Russia , depicting the goddess on a throne. The first surviving extant furniture is in the homes of Skara Brae in Scotland , and includes cupboards, dressers and beds all constructed from stone. Complex construction techniques such as joinery began in the early dynastic period of ancient Egypt . This era saw constructed wooden pieces, including stools and tables, sometimes decorated with valuable metals or ivory. The evolution of furniture design continued in ancient Greece and ancient Rome , with thrones being commonplace as well as

2828-497: Is no longer common to sit at floor level. In Europe, it was owing in great measure to the Renaissance that the chair ceased to be a privilege of state and became a standard item of furniture for anyone who could afford to buy it. Once the idea of privilege faded the chair speedily came into general use. Almost at once the chair began to change every few years to reflect the fashions of the day. Thomas Edward Bowdich visited

2929-403: Is one used by employees within an office. Modern office chairs are usually adjustable and wheeled. Caster wheels are attached to the feet of chairs to give more mobility. A dining room chair is a specific type of design, used around a dining room table. It can be found in most ordinary residential homes, and also may appear in formal settings, such as any formal event or reception that includes

3030-582: Is regarded as the "first comprehensive trade catalogue of its kind". There is something so distinct in the development of taste in French furniture, marked out by the three styles to which the three monarchs have given the name of " Louis Quatorze ", " Louis Quinze ", and "Louis Seize". This will be evident to anyone who will visit, first the Palace of Versailles , then the Grand Trianon , and afterwards

3131-407: Is restored. The 3 methods of restoring furniture are rejuvenate, repair, and refinish. Rejuvenate The piece can easily be restored by just cleaning and waxing the surface while preserving the current finish. It works on wooden furniture that is still in good shape and is the simplest way to clean it. Repair This process can fix dents and cracks by touching up some worn-out areas without removing

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3232-447: Is specific to that language; French and other Romance languages as well as German use variants of the word meubles , which derives from Latin mobilia , meaning "moveable goods". The practice of using natural objects as rudimentary pieces of furniture likely dates to the beginning of human civilization. Early humans are likely to have used tree stumps as seats, rocks as rudimentary tables, and mossy areas for sleeping. During

3333-611: Is still used as the emblem of authority in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom and Canada , and in many other settings. In keeping with this historical connotation of the "chair" as the symbol of authority, committees, boards of directors, and academic departments all have a 'chairman' or 'chair'. Endowed professorships are referred to as chairs. It was not until the 16th century that chairs became common. Until then, people sat on chests , benches , and stools, which were

3434-429: Is the distance between rows of seats. In some airplanes and stadiums the leg room (the seat pitch less the thickness of the seat at thigh level) is so small that it is sometimes insufficient for the average person. A wide variety of chairs have emerged throughout the ages, some based on formal usages, and others based on domestic needs, and some based on needs within the workplace or various professions. An office chair

3535-463: Is the horizontal distance from the back most part of the buttocks to the back of the lower leg. This anthropometric measurement is used to determine the seat depth. Mass-produced chairs are typically 15–17 inches (38–43 cm) deep. Additional anthropometric measurements may be relevant to designing a chair. Hip breadth is used for chair width and armrest width. The buttock-knee length is used to determine "leg room" between rows of chairs. "Seat pitch"

3636-525: Is therefore the first item seen when entering, perhaps displaying symbolic objects, including decorative artwork such as several Neolithic carved stone balls also found at the site. Ancient furniture has been excavated from the 8th-century BCE Phrygian tumulus , the Midas Mound, in Gordion , Turkey . Pieces found here include tables and inlaid serving stands. There are also surviving works from

3737-410: Is used to determine the height of the armrests. Armrests should support the forearm and not the sensitive elbow area. Hence in some chair designs, the armrest is not continuous to the chair back, but is missing in the elbow area. Armrests further have the function of making entry and exit from the chair easier (but from the side it becomes more difficult). For someone seated, the buttock popliteal length

3838-568: Is usually defined by revival styles . The first three-quarters of the twentieth century are often seen as the march towards Modernism . One unique outgrowth of post-modern furniture design is a return to natural shapes and textures. The English word furniture is derived from the French word fourniture , the noun form of fournir , which means to supply or provide. Thus fourniture in French means supplies or provisions. The English usage, referring specifically to household objects,

3939-470: Is well known for its minimalist style, extensive use of wood, high-quality craftsmanship and reliance on wood grain instead of painting or thick lacquer. Japanese chests are known as Tansu , known for elaborate decorative iron work, and are some of the most sought-after of Japanese antiques. The antiques available generally date back to the Tokugawa and Meiji periods . Both the technique of lacquering and

4040-459: The klismos , an elegant Greek chair with a curved backrest and legs whose form was copied by the Romans and is now part of the vocabulary of furniture design, the backless stool ( diphros ), which existed in most Greek homes , and folding stool. The kline , used from the late seventh century BCE, was a multipurpose piece used as a bed , but also as a sofa and for reclining during meals. It

4141-412: The 18th dynasty . Early examples were formed by adding a straight back to a stool, while later chairs had an inclined back. Other furniture types in ancient Egypt include tables, which are heavily represented in art, but almost nonexistent as preserved items – perhaps because they were placed outside tombs rather than within, as well as beds and storage chests. Historical knowledge of Greek furniture

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4242-718: The Bible . Chests are the main type of Gothic furniture used by the majority of the population. Usually, the locks and escutcheon of chests have also an ornamental scope, being finely made. Along with the other arts, the Italian Renaissance of the fourteenth and fifteenth century marked a rebirth in design, often inspired by the Greco-Roman tradition. A similar explosion of design, and renaissance of culture in general occurred in Northern Europe, starting in

4343-525: The Greek fret . Roman furniture was based heavily on Greek furniture, in style and construction. Rome gradually superseded Greece as the foremost culture of Europe, leading eventually to Greece becoming a province of Rome in 146 BC. Rome thus took over production and distribution of Greek furniture, and the boundary between the two is blurred. The Romans did have some limited innovation outside of Greek influence, and styles distinctly their own. Roman furniture

4444-640: The Petit Trianon . The nineteenth century is usually defined by concurrent revival styles , including Gothic , Neoclassicism, and Rococo. The design reforms of the late century introduced the Aesthetic movement and the Arts and Crafts movement . Art Nouveau was influenced by both of these movements. Shaker -style furniture became popular during this time in North America as well. This design

4545-522: The Pop art movement, gained steam in the 1960s and 70s, promoted in the 80s by groups such as the Italy-based Memphis movement . Transitional furniture is intended to fill a place between Traditional and Modern tastes. Great efforts from individuals, governments, and companies has led to the manufacturing of products with higher sustainability known as Ecodesign . This new line of furniture

4646-657: The Rococo and Neoclassicism were perpetuated throughout Western Europe. During the 18th century, the fashion was set in England by the French art. In the beginning of the century Boulle cabinets were at the peak of their popularity and Louis XIV was reigning in France. In this era, most of the furniture had metal and enamelled decorations in it and some of the furniture was covered in inlays of marbles lapis lazuli, and porphyry and other stones. By mid-century this Baroque style

4747-626: The egg-shaped pod chair that turns. It also introduced the first mass-produced plastic chairs such as the Bofinger chair in 1966. Technological advances led to molded plywood and wood laminate chairs, as well as chairs made of leather or polymers . Mechanical technology incorporated into the chair enabled adjustable chairs, especially for office use. Motors embedded in the chair resulted in massage chairs . Chairs can be made from wood, metal, or other strong materials, like stone or acrylic. In some cases, multiple materials are used to construct

4848-459: The klinai , multipurpose couches used for relaxing, eating, and sleeping. The furniture of the Middle Ages was usually heavy, oak , and ornamented. Furniture design expanded during the Italian Renaissance of the fourteenth and fifteenth century. The seventeenth century, in both Southern and Northern Europe, was characterized by opulent, often gilded Baroque designs. The nineteenth century

4949-627: The predynastic period is scarce, but samples from First Dynasty tombs indicate an already advanced use of furnishings in the houses of the age. During the Dynastic Period , which began in around 3200 BCE, Egyptian art developed significantly, and this included furniture design. Egyptian furniture was primarily constructed using wood , but other materials were sometimes used, such as leather , and pieces were often adorned with gold, silver, ivory and ebony, for decoration. Wood found in Egypt

5050-598: The 15th century. Very few extant pieces survive, and evidence in literature is also scarce. It is likely that the style of furniture prevalent in late antiquity persisted throughout the Middle Ages . For example, a throne similar to that of Zeus is depicted in a sixth-century diptych , while the Bayeux tapestry shows Edward the Confessor and Harold seated on seats similar to the Roman sella curulis . The furniture of

5151-502: The 2019 edition), of which 27% were foreigners, mainly from Europe, the United States and Canada. According to data from the organization of the fair, 262,608 visitors from 173 countries registered to visit, representing a 32% decrease compared to the last in-person fair, which took place in 2019. The 61st edition was held from April 18 to 23, 2023. The 2024 Salone del Mobile was held from April 16 to 21. It attracted more visitors than ever before, including increasingly many from outside of

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5252-878: The 20th century is seen as the march towards Modernism . The furniture designers of Art Deco , De Stijl , Bauhaus , Jugendstil , Wiener Werkstätte , and Vienna Secession all worked to some degree within the Modernist motto . Born from the Bauhaus and Streamline Moderne came the post-World War II style " Mid-Century Modern ". Mid-Century Modern materials developed during the war including laminated plywood , plastics , and fiberglass . Prime examples include furniture designed by George Nelson Associates , Charles and Ray Eames , Paul McCobb , Florence Knoll , Harry Bertoia , Eero Saarinen , Harvey Probber , Vladimir Kagan and Danish modern designers including Finn Juhl and Arne Jacobsen . Postmodern design, intersecting

5353-634: The 9th–8th-century BCE Assyrian palace of Nimrud . The earliest surviving carpet, the Pazyryk Carpet was discovered in a frozen tomb in Siberia and has been dated between the 6th and 3rd century BCE. Civilization in ancient Egypt began with the clearance and irrigation of land along the banks of the River Nile , which began in about 6000 BCE. By that time, society in the Nile Valley

5454-597: The Emperor. Cherry and apple flowers are used for decorating screens, vases and shōji . Common animal ornaments include dragons, carps , cranes, gooses, tigers, horses and monkeys; representations of architecture such as houses, pavilions, towers, torii gates, bridges and temples are also common. The furniture of a Japanese house consists of tables, shelves, wardrobes, small holders for flowers, bonsais or for bonkei , boxes, lanterns with wooden frames and translucent paper, neck and elbow holders, and jardinieres . Seating

5555-509: The Greeks, Romans used tenons, dowels, nails, and glue to join wooden pieces together, and also practised veneering. The 1738 and 1748 excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii revealed Roman furniture, preserved in the ashes of the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius . In contrast to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, there is comparatively little evidence of furniture from the 5th to

5656-522: The Middle Ages was usually heavy, oak , and ornamented with carved designs. The Hellenistic influence upon Byzantine furniture can be seen through the use of acanthus leaves , palmettes , bay and olive leaves as ornaments. Oriental influences manifest through rosettes , arabesques and the geometric stylisation of certain vegetal motifs. Christianity brings symbols in Byzantine ornamentation:

5757-539: The Slumber Chair, moulded plastic chairs and ergonomic chairs. The recliner became a popular form, at least in part due to radio and television. In the 1930s, stair lifts were commercially available to help people suffering from Polio and other diseases to navigate stairs. The modern movement of the 1960s produced new forms of chairs: the butterfly chair (originally called the Hardoy chair), bean bags , and

5858-597: The Western sphere of influence has encouraged higher participation and development of new, more accessible furniture design techniques. One unique outgrowth of this post-modern furniture design trajectory is Live Edge , which incorporates the natural surface of a tree as part of a furniture object, heralding a resurgence of these natural shapes and textures within the home. Additionally, the use of Epoxy Resin has become more prevalent in DIY furniture styles. Asian furniture has

5959-670: The age of 35." The show's annual visitation numbers 270,000, with attendees from over 150 countries worldwide. The show is now organized and operated by Cosmit S.p.A. , a trade show corporation and a member of the ICSID ( International Council of Societies of Industrial Design ) and ADI (Association for Industrial Design). Interior design around the world gathers at Milan in April every year at Milan Design Week commonly known as Salone Internazionale del Mobile covered online at designers such as designerzcentral. In 2011, there were 2,720 exhibitors at

6060-423: The ancient Greek thronos (Greek singular: θρόνος), which was a seat designated for deities or individuals of high status/hierarchy or honor. The colossal chryselephantine statue of Zeus at Olympia , constructed by Phidias and lost in antiquity, featured the god Zeus seated on an elaborate throne, which was decorated with gold, precious stones, ebony and ivory, according to Pausanias . Other Greek seats included

6161-510: The arm of easy chairs or sofas and used to hold remote controls for home cinemas . They are counter-weighted so as to not slide off the arms under the weight of the remote controls. Chair glides are attached to the feet of chairs to prevent them from scratching or snagging on the floor. An antimacassar is a cloth covering for a headrest to protect the fabric and enable easy washing. Christo created Wrapped Chair in 1961 with found objects (chairs), lacquer, canvas, rope, and paint. It

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6262-442: The back. Car seats sometimes have built-in and adjustable lumbar supports. These can also be used on kitchen chairs. Chair mats are mats meant to cover different types of flooring. They are usually made from plastic. This allows chairs on wheels to roll easily over the carpet and protects the carpet or floor. They come in various shapes, some specifically sized to fit partially under a desk. Remote control bags can be draped over

6363-430: The best seated posture is a reclined posture of 100°–110°. In order to recline, the back-rest may be independently adjustable. A reclining seat and back will reduce the load on the occupant's back muscles. In general, if the occupant is supposed to sit for a long time, weight needs to be taken off the seat area and thus "easy" chairs intended for long periods of sitting are generally at least slightly reclined. The back of

6464-404: The body of the chair in order to give height adjustment and more comfort to the user. Some chairs have foot rests. Around 15% of women and 2% of men need foot rests, even at the 16-inch (41 cm) chair height. A stool or other simple chair may have a simple straight or curved bar near the bottom for the sitter to place their feet on. Actual chair dimensions are determined by measurements of

6565-491: The chair will support some of the weight of the occupant, reducing the weight on other parts of the body. Some back-rests support only the lumbar region, while shoulder height back-rests support the entire back and shoulders . Headrests support the head as well and are important in vehicles for preventing " whiplash " neck injuries in rear-end collisions where the head is jerked back suddenly. Reclining chairs typically have at least shoulder-height back-rests to shift weight to

6666-517: The combination of sustainability and design were showcased, which eventually resulted in a British entrepreneurial initiative a few years later, pioneer of the upcoming sustainable design revolution. The 57th edition of the Salone del Mobile was held in 2018, with 434,509 visitors in 6 days from 188 different countries. In comparison to the years 2016 and 2017, the number of attendees increased by 17% and 26% respectively. The 2020 Salone del Mobile

6767-859: The combustibility of chairs when they are stacked. The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer's Association (BIFMA) defines ANSI/BIFMA X5.1 (titled: General-Purpose Office Chairs – Tests) for testing of commercial-grade chairs. It requires: The specification further defines heavier "proof" loads that chairs must withstand. Under these higher loads, the chair may be damaged, but it must not fail catastrophically. Large institutions that make bulk purchases will reference these standards within their own even more detailed criteria for purchase. Governments will often issue standards for purchases by government agencies (e.g. Canada's Canadian General Standards Board CAN/CGSB 44.15M on "Straight Stacking Chair, Steel" or CAN/CGSB 44.232-2002 on "Task Chairs for Office Work with Visual Display Terminal"). Chairs may be rated by

6868-460: The edge of a high stool with feet on the floor is less harmful for the lower back than sitting up straight on a conventional chair. Different types of chairs can have a variety of seating positions, depending on the intended task. Typically, chairs intended for people completing work or dining can only recline very slightly (otherwise the occupant is too far away from the desk or table). Dental chairs are necessarily reclined. Research has shown that

6969-534: The fifteenth century. The 17th century, in both Southern and Northern Europe, was characterized by opulent, often gilded Baroque designs that frequently incorporated a profusion of vegetal and scrolling ornament. Starting in the eighteenth century, furniture designs began to develop more rapidly. Although there were some styles that belonged primarily to one nation, such as Palladianism in Great Britain or Louis Quinze in French furniture , others, such as

7070-547: The form of beds imitated the Roman ones, but have different designs of legs. The main ornament of Gothic furniture and all applied arts is the ogive . The geometric rosette accompanies the ogive many times, having a big variety of forms. Architectural elements are used at furniture, at the beginning with purely decorative reasons, but later as structure elements. Besides the ogive, the main ornaments are: acanthus leaves, ivy, oak leaves, haulms, clovers, fleurs-de-lis , knights with shields, heads with crowns and characters from

7171-427: The height of the occupant's head, which can optionally contain a headrest. Chairs can also be made from more creative materials, such as recycled materials like cutlery and wooden play bricks, pencils, plumbing tubes, rope, corrugated cardboard , and PVC pipe . In rare cases, chairs are made out of unusual materials, especially as a form of art or experimentation. Raimonds Cirulis, a Latvian interior designer, created

7272-405: The human body or anthropometric measurements. The two most relevant anthropometric measurement for chair design is the popliteal height and buttock popliteal length. For someone seated, the popliteal height is the distance from the underside of the foot to the underside of the thigh at the knees. It is sometimes called the "stool height". The term "sitting height" is reserved for the height to

7373-401: The knees, to support the weight of the body. A sit-stand chair distributes most of the weight of the occupant to the feet. Many chairs are padded or have cushions . Padding can be on the seat of the chair only, on the seat and back, or also on any arm rests or foot rest the chair may have. Padding will not shift the weight to different parts of the body (unless the chair is so soft that the shape

7474-511: The late Paleolithic or early Neolithic period, from around 30,000 years ago, people began constructing and carving their own furniture, using wood, stone and animal bones. The earliest evidence for the existence of constructed furniture is a Venus figurine found at the Gagarino site in Russia, which depicts the goddess in a sitting position, on a throne. A similar statue of a seated woman

7575-407: The legs of beasts or the figures of captives. Generally speaking, the higher ranked an individual was, the taller and more sumptuous was the chair he sat on and the greater the honor. On state occasions, the pharaoh sat on a throne , often with a little footstool in front of it. The average Egyptian family seldom had chairs, and if they did, it was usually only the master of the household who sat on

7676-419: The length of time that they may be used comfortably – an 8-hour chair, a 24-hour chair, and so on. Such chairs are specified for tasks which require extended periods of sitting, such as for receptionists or supervisors of a control panel. In place of a built-in footrest, some chairs come with a matching ottoman . An ottoman is a short stool that is intended to be used as a footrest but can sometimes be used as

7777-846: The main Palace of the Ashanti Empire in 1819, and observed chairs engrossed with gold in the empire. In the 1800s, chairs became more common in American households and usually there was a chair provided for every family member to sit down to dinner. By the 1830s, factory-manufactured “fancy chairs” like those by Sears , Roebuck, and Co. allowed families to purchase machined sets. With the Industrial Revolution , chairs became much more available. The 20th century saw an increasing use of technology in chair construction with such things as all-metal folding chairs, metal-legged chairs,

7878-419: The next. Chinese ornamentation is highly inspired by paintings, with floral and plant life motifs including bamboo trees, chrysanthemums, waterlilies, irises, magnolias, flowers and branches of cherry, apple, apricot and plum, or elongated bamboo leaves; animal ornaments include lions, bulls, ducks, peacocks, parrots, pheasants, roosters, ibises and butterflies. The dragon is the symbol of earth fertility, and of

7979-697: The official fair, compared to 2,499 in 2010. New lighting technologies at the show included the Flos 2620 LED chandelier with 2,620 LEDs in what appeared to be random rings of light arranged to create the illusion of movement. The standpoint piece for Arco, a 106-year-old Dutch company, was the wooden furniture produced by the Israeli designer Shay Alkalay. Of the student shows, the Dutch design school Design Academy Eindhoven took first place, followed by Israel's Bezalel Academy of Art and Design . Also, some early examples of

8080-793: The ordinary seats of everyday life. The number of chairs which have survived from an earlier date is exceedingly limited; most examples are of ecclesiastical , seigneurial or feudal origin. Chairs were in existence since at least the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt ( c.  3100 BC ). They were covered with cloth or leather , were made of carved wood, and were much lower than today's chairs – chair seats were sometimes only 10 inches (25 cm) high. In ancient Egypt , chairs appear to have been of great richness and splendor. Fashioned of ebony and ivory , or of carved and gilded wood , they were covered with costly materials, magnificent patterns and supported upon representations of

8181-415: The original finish in some way. More often than not, this entails removing the existing treatment and preparing the raw wood for a new finish. Methods for repair depend on what kind of wood it is: solid or veneered, hardwood or softwood, open grained or closed grained. These variables can sometimes decide if a piece of furniture is worth repairing, as well as the type of repairs and finish it will require if it

8282-748: The pigeon, fishes, the lamb and vines. The furniture from Byzantine houses and palaces was usually luxurious, highly decorated and finely ornamented. Stone, marble, metal, wood and ivory are used. Surfaces and ornaments are gilded, painted plychrome, plated with sheets of gold, emailed in bright colors, and covered in precious stones. The variety of Byzantine furniture is pretty big: tables with square, rectangle or round top, sumptuous decorated, made of wood sometimes inlaid, with bronze, ivory or silver ornaments; chairs with high backs and with wool blankets or animal furs, with coloured pillows, and then banks and stools; wardrobes were used only for storing books; cloths and valuable objects were kept in chests, with iron locks;

8383-531: The power and wisdom of the emperor. Lacquers are mostly populated with princesses, various Chinese people, soldiers, children, ritually and daily scenes. Architectural features tend toward geometric ornaments, like meanders and labyrinths. The interior of a Chinese house was simple and sober. All Chinese furniture is made of wood, usually ebony, teak , or rosewood for heavier furniture (chairs, tables and benches) and bamboo, pine and larch for lighter furniture (stools and small chairs). Traditional Japanese furniture

8484-619: The professional design world. Outside the fairgrounds itself, the satellite fair Alcova exhibited work in two historic Milanese mansions including the former home of architect Osvaldo Borsani. Many high fashion brands & designers such as Gucci, Hermes, Loro Piana, Saint Laurent, & Thom Browne participated with furniture & design exhibitions. Furniture industry Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools , chairs , and sofas ), eating ( tables ), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks ). Furniture

8585-409: The reasons for the adoption of the chair. The most common theories are that the chair was an outgrowth of indigenous Chinese furniture, that it evolved from a camp stool imported from Central Asia, that it was introduced to China by Christian missionaries in the 7th century, and that the chair came to China from India as a form of Buddhist monastic furniture. In modern China, unlike Korea or Japan , it

8686-464: The shoulders. There may be cases where padding is not desirable, such as chairs that are intended primarily for outdoor use. Where padding is not desirable, contouring may be used instead. A contoured seat pan attempts to distribute weight without padding. By matching the shape of the occupant's buttocks , weight is distributed and maximum pressure is reduced. A chair may or may not have armrests; chairs with armrests are termed "armchairs". In French ,

8787-468: The specific lacquer (resin of Rhus vernicifera ) originated in China, but the lacquer tree also grows well in Japan . The recipes of preparation are original to Japan: resin is mixed with wheat flour, clay or pottery powder, turpentine , iron powder or wood coal. In ornamentation, the chrysanthemum, known as kiku, the national flower, is a very popular ornament, including the 16-petal chrysanthemum symbolizing

8888-481: The surface with this technique, the finish can be maintained while repairing the object with specialized products. Refinish Remove anything that is left for example any paint with a finish-stripper product or lightly sanding the area down and then applying wood finish like oil wax in order to protect the secure the wood. Cleaning Remove dirt, dust, and grime from the furniture using a mild soap or specialized furniture cleaner. Chair A chair

8989-429: The top of the head when seated. For American men, the median popliteal height is 16.3 inches (41 cm) and for American women it is 15.0 inches (38 cm). The popliteal height, after adjusting for heels, clothing and other issues, is used to determine the height of the chair seat. Mass-produced chairs are typically 17 inches (43 cm) high. Researchers such as Mary Blade and Galen Cranz found that sitting on

9090-669: The two main categories for wood. Both hardwoods and softwoods are used in furniture manufacturing, and each has its own specific uses. Deciduous trees, which have broad leaves that change color periodically throughout the year, are the source of hardwood. Coniferous trees, also known as cone-bearing trees, have small leaves or needles that stay on the tree throughout the year. Common softwoods used include pine, redwood and yew. Higher quality furniture tends to be made out of hardwood , including oak, maple, mahogany, teak, walnut, cherry and birch. Highest quality wood will have been air dried to rid it of its moisture. A popular furniture hardwood

9191-415: The use of specially designed seats. The simplest form of seat is the chair , which is a piece of furniture designed to allow a single person to sit down, which has a back and legs, as well as a platform for sitting. Chairs often feature cushions made from various fabrics. All different types of woods have unique signature marks that can help in easy identification of the type. Hardwood and softwood are

9292-434: The weight of the occupant to various parts of the body . This is done by having an easily adjustable seat height. A seat that is higher results in dangling feet and increased pressure on the underside of the knees (" popliteal fold "). It may also result in no weight on the feet which means more weight elsewhere. A lower seat may shift too much weight to the "seat bones" (" ischial tuberosities "). Gas springs are attached to

9393-722: The weight. Chair seats vary widely in construction and may or may not match construction of the chair's back (back-rest). Some systems include: Design considerations for chairs have been codified into standards. ISO 9241 , "Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs) – Part 5: Workstation layout and postural requirements", is the most common one for modern chair design. There are multiple specific standards for different types of chairs. Dental chairs are specified by ISO 6875. Bean bag chairs are specified by ANSI standard ASTM F1912-98. ISO 7174 specifies stability of rocking and tilting chairs. ASTM F1858-98 specifies plastic lawn chairs. ASTM E1822-02b defines

9494-579: Was already engaged in organized agriculture and the construction of large buildings. At this period, Egyptians in the southwestern corner of Egypt were herding cattle and also constructing large buildings. Mortar was in use by around 4000 BCE The inhabitants of the Nile Valley and delta were self-sufficient and were raising barley and emmer (an early variety of wheat) and stored it in pits lined with reed mats. They raised cattle, goats and pigs and they wove linens and baskets. Evidence of furniture from

9595-472: Was constructed principally using wood, metal and stone, with marble and limestone used for outside furniture. Very little wooden furniture survives intact, but there is evidence that a variety of woods were used, including maple, citron, beech, oak , and holly. Some imported wood such as satinwood was used for decoration. The most commonly used metal was bronze, of which numerous examples have survived, for example, headrests for couches and metal stools. Similar to

9696-400: Was displaced by the graceful curves, shining ormolu , and intricate marquetry of the Rococo style, which in turn gave way around 1770 to the more severe lines of Neoclassicism , modeled after the architecture of ancient Greece and Rome . Creating a mass market for furniture, the distinguished London cabinet maker Thomas Chippendale 's The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Director (1754)

9797-649: Was found in Çatalhöyük in Turkey, dating to between 6000 and 5500 BCE. The inclusion of such a seat in the figurines implies that these were already common artefacts of that age. A range of unique stone furniture has been excavated in Skara Brae , a Neolithic village in Orkney , Scotland The site dates from 3100 to 2500 BCE and due to a shortage of wood in Orkney, the people of Skara Brae were forced to build with stone,

9898-409: Was in many ways rooted in necessity and emphasizes both form and materials. Early British Colonial American chairs and tables are often constructed with turned spindles and chair backs often constructed with steaming to bend the wood. Wood choices tend to be deciduous hardwoods with a particular emphasis on the wood of edible or fruit bearing trees such as cherry or walnut. The first three-quarters of

9999-667: Was initially postponed to June, and in March was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic , which was affecting northern Italy particularly severely at the time. The 60th edition of the Salone del Mobile was postponed due to the Covid-19 health crisis but was held from June 7 to 12, 2022. During the fair, various galleries, showrooms, and palazzos in surrounding areas of the city also exhibited art & design. That year, 20 pavilions were occupied with 2,173 exhibitors present (−10% compared to

10100-431: Was not suitable for furniture construction, so it had to be imported into the country from other places, particularly Phoenicia . The scarcity of wood necessitated innovation in construction techniques. The use of scarf joints to join two shorter pieces together and form a longer beam was one example of this, as well as construction of veneers in which low quality cheap wood was used as the main building material, with

10201-616: Was rectangular and supported on four legs, two of which could be longer than the other, providing support for an armrest or headboard. Mattresses, rugs, and blankets may have been used, but there is no evidence for sheets. In general, Greek tables were low and often appear in depictions alongside klinai . The most common type of Greek table had a rectangular top supported on three legs, although numerous configurations exist, including trapezoid and circular. Tables in ancient Greece were used mostly for dining purposes – in depictions of banquets, it appears as though each participant would have used

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