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20th Century Wooden Designer Chairs:
Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. During the 19th century the design of chairs began to reflect rapidly expanding technology. The first patent for coiled springs, made of iron or steel wire twisted into spirals, was granted to Samuel Pratt of London in 1828. They were soon used for upholstered chairs, which became deeper, softer, and larger and were called "overstuffed chairs," Other new materials such as thin laminated woods, which could be bent into intricate shapes, papier-mache, and prefabricated metal forms were experimented with by 19th century designers. Probably the most successful was Michael Thonet of Vienna, whose "bentwood" chairs continued to be manufactured in huge numbers in the 20th century wooden designer chairs century.
The English designer William Morris, founder of the arts and crafts movement (q.v.), designed the "Morris chair." Its movable back made it a forerunner of modern reclining chairs.Country or Cottage Chairs. The many revolutions in taste between the 17th and 20th century wooden designer chairs century had little effect except on chairs intended for the rich and fashionable. Throughout these centuries there was a strong continuity in the design of "low-style" chairs. They commonly had straight legs and backs, sometimes turned but rarely carved. Their frames were made of native woods and sometimes painted; their seats were made of solid wood, rush, or cane. These "country" or "cottage" chairs are so conservative in design that it is sometimes hard to date them accurately within fifty or a hundred years. Perhaps the most important design innovation in "low-style" chairs during the 18th century was the Windsor chair, which was so simple that it readily lent itself to mass production.
Still, upholstered chairs were much less comfortable than were side and arm chairs made entirely of wood. Household inventories from the 18th century show that side chairs were made in sets of as many as 12, 18, or 24. From 18th century paintings and written accounts we know that these sets of chairs generally were ranged around the perimeter of the room and only brought forward as needed. These side chairs, although they look like modern dining room chairs, were used all over the house—in the parlor or drawing room and in the bedrooms. Special rooms set aside for the sole purpose of eating did not become usual until late in the century, even in large houses.
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