Saturday, February 12, 2011

Chinese Chippendale Chairs 1970s and 80s

Chinese Chippendale chairs.  These chairs are hot right now!  Dare I say trendy?  They did exist before a few years ago!  Actually, since the 1750s.    Here is the inspiration for the trend:

furniturestyles.net, Chinese Chippendale Dining Chairs Pictures

These chairs are from the famous pattern book by Thomas Chippendale, The Gentleman and the Cabinet Maker's Director in 1754.  There were many different styles of furniture, and one of them was "Chinese" in response to the travels and explorations of the British at that time, which developed tastes of the wealthy elite toward the exotic.  The chairs weren't spray painted bright colors, but they were lacquered.  


Chair in Chippendale style, Chinese taste, third quarter eighteenth century.
chestofbooks.com, The Period of the Cabinet-Makers, 1750-1840. Part 6



In recent past decades, reproductions were left a stained brown color, and were paired with bright yellow walls and terrible lighting in the 1970s.

The Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement, 1970


The chairs were also paired with modern furniture like the pedistal table below and way too many plants like in the 1980s


Better Homes and Gardens Stretching Living Space, 1983


These are unique vintage images of these very trendy chairs hitting the web everywhere.  Without these images, the trends of pairing the Chinese Chippendale chairs with bright colors and cabriolle leg tables wouldn't be so easy to recognize.  This is what The Philosophy of Interior Design is all about!

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