Chaise longues for every home.
Chaise longues for every home.
An elegant piece of furniture designed for leisure and repose, we uncover the long and storied history of this indulgent seating appointment, and present six captivating designs that will stand the test of time.
Taken from Joseph Aronson’s The Encyclopedia of Furniture (1938), the definition of the chaise longue is a “long chair, a form of sofa or day-bed with an upholstered back for reclining”. Before the chaise longue assumed its modern French name, it was known to the ancient Greeks as the kline, and to the Romans as the lectus, with the former group imitating the original design from the Egyptians. Both the Greeks and Romans used it as a bed and for reclining during meals.
Following a relative lull during mediaeval times, the chair appeared in France in the 17th century, and by the reign of Louis XIV, which began in 1643, the seat had become ubiquitous in France. The apotheosis of the historic chair came in 1800 when the neoclassical artist JacquesLouis David painted his portrait of French socialite Madame Recamier reclining languorously on the painter’s elegant chaise longue. The fame and influence of the painting was such that the French still call the chaise longue a recamier today.
The chair’s popularity crossed the English Channel in the late 1600s, becoming a favourite furniture piece of the newly moneyed classes in Victorian England. By the 20th century, the chair was being mass-produced in cheaper materials, and became as essential as the upright piano in living rooms. Today, after more than three centuries, the chaise longue lives on and can be found around the world.
Poliform Mad chaise longue by Marcel Wanders
Both, it seems, are commonly understood to mean the same thing – though chaise longue is the original French term. When the English imported the long chair from France, they anglicised “longue” to “lounge”, an English word spelled with the same letters and fortuitously bearing the same meaning as the original chaise longue, meaning “a long couch”.
Dutch designer Marcel Wanders’ shapely chair keeps the look seamless yet fun by expressing just the abstract silhouette of a chaise longue. A striking piece, it is built with solid wood stems and comes with a removable fabric or leather cover over the moulded polyurethane body.
Molteni&C Paul sofa by Vincent van Duysen
This versatile piece is part of Paul, a set of sofas designed by Belgian designer Vincent van Duysen for Italian furniture brand MolteniC. Designed to be the end element of an adjoining sofa to make a long multi-seater, it is also complete on its own as a chaise longue.
Erik Jorgensen AV72 chair by Arne Vodder
A 2016 reissue of the design first launched in 1972, the AV72 is an elegant chaise longue with a slim frame that curves with the natural contours of the body. By Danish furniture designer Arne Vodder, who was known for his work with wood, this chair was the first of his furniture pieces to have a metal frame.
Cassina LC4 chaise longue by Le Corbusier
Designed in 1928 by the father of modern architecture, Le Corbusier, with his cousin Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand, the LC4 is one of, if not the most, iconic chaise longue designs. Its tubular steel frame speaks of its Machine Age origins, and its pronounced curves mimic the fluid lines of a lounging body.
Eilersen Control chair by Jens Jules Eilersen
True to its name, this chair gives you ultimate control over its highly adaptable design. Its neck and foot support can be adjusted between two positions, while the backrest can switch between sitting and lying positions. Fabric and leather options – over 50 to choose from – for the customisable and removable cover will also impress. It even comes in two sizes, 70cm by 182cm and 85cm by 182cm.
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Zanotta Lama 921 lounge chair by Ludovica+Roberto Palomba
The most minimalist design of the lot, the Lama 921 lounge chair is a bare-bones rendition of the chaise longue. Propped up on a graphite steel frame, the moulded foam seat comes in fabric, leather or cowhide covers. Italian architects and designers Roberto Palomba and Ludovica Serafini designed the chair for furniture brand Zanotta in 2006.
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