An Early Design Icon
The revolutionary Fauteuil
by Jean-Joseph Chapuis (1765–1864)
Today, very little is known about the furniture and chairmaker Jean-Joseph Chapuis, who was born in 1765 in Brussels and then trained in Paris, where he also became master craftsman.
Chapuis was one of the first chairmakers to use the innovative technique of bent laminated wood, which was taken up and fully exploited by Michael Thonet after 1830. This chair design, dating from 1805, could only be produced by employing this innovative technology. Only the principle of bending laminated wood layers allowed Chapuis to cite the ease of ancient Roman bronze chairs (sella curulis), excavated in Pompeii and, from today's perspective, creating such a design icon.
Displayed in the most famous collections
Identical models of this fauteuil (but painted white) were among the furnishings of the Royal Palace at Laeken, near Brussels, during the early years of the Napoleonic occupation. There are only a few examples of this revolutionary armchair that have survived to this day, which are diplayed in such famous collections such as the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, the Vitra Design Museum, or the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Literature:
Ostergard, Derek E., Bent Wood and Metal Furniture 1850–1946
The American Federation of Arts, New York, 1987.