Chairs: A History [Hardcover]

Florence de Dampierre (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2006

Henry David Thoreau wrote, “I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.” In Chairs: A History, furniture historian Florence de Dampierre presents a wonderfully readable and visually stunning exploration of chairs and their place in culture through the ages. Along with hundreds of gorgeous photographs—many taken specifically for this book—de Dampierre fills these pages with fascinating information and anecdotes, tracing the chair’s emergence in ancient Egypt and examining various forms of seating from classical Greece, the Roman Empire, and the Renaissance era, to the classic designs of today.

From thrones to divans, straightbacked to overstuffed, Baroque to Bauhaus, this beautiful volume will delight anyone who’s ever taken a seat and wondered where it came from.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Decorator and furniture historian Florence de Dampierre is the author of several books, including The Best Painted Furniture, as well as numerous articles on period furniture. She lives in Litchfield, CT.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; First Edition edition (October 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810954842
• ISBN-13: 978-0810954847
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 7.9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #361,732 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #87 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Antiques & Collectibles > Furniture
  • #93 in Books > Arts & Photography > Design & Decorative Arts > Furniture Design

More About the Author

Ms.de Dampierre has distinguished herself with solid accomplishments. She is a noted interior designer, furniture historian, and author. Her first book, The Best of Painted Furniture, published in 1987 by Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., has become a bestseller, having sold over a hundred thousand copies. An interior design classic, The Decorators, was published in 1989 (Rizzoli).These titles were followed by Chairs: A History (2006, Harry N. Abrams), which has become the standard reference book on the subject, and French Chic: The Art of Decorating Houses (2008, Rizzoli), which uses her Connecticut home in countless full color photographs to illustrate both principles of design and the techniques she suggests to help one attain a very personal home and one using her "French Chic" visual vocabulary and techniques. Her fifth book, Walls: The Best of Decorative Treatments (2011, Rizzoli) is a lavish journey around the world from the past to the present showcasing such premier decorative wall designs as fresco, wood paneling, stenciling, and wallpaper. De Dampierre shows how decorating walls can transform an interior space to dramatic effect.

A contributing editor to the much missed House & Garden magazine, Ms. de Dampierre writes lifestyle stories for newspapers and magazines. Her Connecticut home has been the subject of many articles.

She began Florence de Dampierre Antiques in New York City in 1985. This was the first American antiques shop devoted solely to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century painted furniture. The shop received great accolades, grew to become a multimillion dollar enterprise, and was housed in its own building in Soho by 1990 with a worldwide clientele. It was the subject of a New York Magazine cover story in 1990.

Ms. de Dampierre had been a contributing designer sponsored by House & Garden magazine for the French Designer Show House, and has a roster of personal design clients. She has lectured extensively around the country and has curated numerous museum exhibitions. Further attesting to her enormous visual sense, Ms. de Dampierre was elected into Eleanor Lambert's Best-dressed List as one of the twelve best-dressed women in the world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Simply Fantastic Book!, May 11, 2007

By 

JWM (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chairs: A History (Hardcover)

No one who has seen my home would expect me to have anything to do with a furniture book. But some perceptive friend gave me this book and now I get it! Under Ms. de Dampierre's tutelage, I have grown to understand how pieces of furniture are a reflection of the times in which they were created. This study of chairs is no less fascinating than any great work of art history and the author does an incredible job of detailing changes in social and political currents which impact the design and use of each chair in her exhaustive chronology. As importantly, the pictures are beautiful; the book is worth buying for them alone.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the ultimate book on chairs, May 10, 2007

By 

A.W.G. (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chairs: A History (Hardcover)

Florence de Dampierre has produced what will certainly be not only the definitive guide to the chair itself but also a witty and learned look at how modes of communication in differing cultures governed the kind of furniture people invented for themselves. The scope of the book is huge, ranging from the cradle of civilization in Mesopotamia and Africa to the chair as modern art. I recommend it highly, both for serious collectors as well as anyone who has ever thought twice about the provenance of the place they've just sat down in. The book is copiously and beautifully illustrated, so it makes a lovely gift.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chairs; A History, May 9, 2007

By 

H. S. Mathis "h mathis" (nyc) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chairs: A History (Hardcover)

I have read Chairs; A History and find it to be fasinating from two view points. One is that it is more than a history of furniture, it is a social history of the people who sat in the chairs and their times and their culture. Secondly I will retain it for years as one of the most complete reference books on the cultural periods discussed. Finally it is beautifully illustrated and written and should be in everyone's library.