lounge chair design, the need to unwind, furniture classics up to thonet

 

upholstered chaise lounge thonet brothers 1900

can you picture lying around in this lounge chair in 1900?  this is the edwardian era in england of ‘upstairs downstairs’ and ‘mary poppins.’  who had the time to lounge then?  only the few, only the rich.  but life is stressful for all walks of life and the chaise lounge offers a welcome attitude-in-waiting to unwind.  

i was glad to find these pics on designboom.com.  they have several pages of the history of the day bed.  nice idea, history had, to bed in the day.  i concur (today, at least).  to go all day and stop only at night does not always cut it.  not that i do not believe in hard work, and live to work, but some moments of calm, of thought, of rest, of sanctuary, are needed to pause in the day or to unwind in the evening. having your feet up at such moments helps.    

here are some of thonet’s chaise lounge predecessors and others of their designs of that era.  relax and imagine.  

medieval drawing of a day-bed, early 13th century

 

resting bed (in french 'lit a repose'), england, later 16th century

 

chair 'a duchesse' , france 1765

 

kangaroo day bed, virginia 1830s

 

napoleon III steel camp daybed circa 1850

 

rocking reclining chaise-longue, thonet brothers, austria 1883

 

thonet chaise-lounge, austria, ca. 1890

 

thonet chaise lounge ca. 1980

 

garden recliner, thonet brothers, ca. 1900

 maybe they were gazing at a garden like this…. whilst pondering future artistic possibilities of the chaise lounge pose.