Folding Chairs: Their Unfolding History
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Many would like to think that folding chairs are a fairly modern contraption. The market is saturated with sleek modern designs made with innovative raw materials that it is convenient to assume that folding chairs are indeed a fairly recent innovation to one of man's great inventions -the chair. But in fact, folding chairs are around for thousands of years dating back to the times of ancient Egypt and it can be said that folding chairs are one of the surviving ancient relics of man's ingenuity.
The civilization of ancient Egypt is the starting point of the colorful history of folding chairs. The very first folding chairs were the folding stools used by Egyptian army commanders dating back from 2000-1500 B.C. It is of front-x design type with pivots just under the seat level and very easy to carry around. Royalties also used ornate folding chairs with backrests and armrests for formal gatherings. It eventually became the symbol of royalty worthy of divinity as they were exclusively used only by the king and other royalties. The status of folding chairs as symbols of royalty passed on to other cultures and civilizations most notably the Greek and the subsequent Etruscan and Roman civilizations.
The Greek and Etruscan adoption of the Egyptian folding chair with front-x design is the forerunner of the famous Roman chair - The "sella curulis" , which was used exclusively during the Roman Republican period by the plebeian tribunal. The front-x design was very much emphasized in the construction of these ancient folding chairs because the x-symbol is fast becoming the symbol of authority during those times as very much evident in the throne of Dagobert I, the King of Franconians.
During the middle ages, folding chairs flourished. They were embellished with various elaborate markings but essentially retaining the original front- x design of their ancient predecessors as very much evident in the "sedia della forbice" or the "scissors chair" for the 16th century , "sedia a tenaglia or the pincer chair and "chair of petrarca". Folding chairs during the 15th to 16th centuries almost always have armrests and backrests and most were used ceremoniously as liturgical pieces.
Military history contributed much to the development of functional and lightweight folding chairs. Although early military folding chairs and stools were never designed to be aesthetically appealing, their basic functionality and simple construction served as templates for the more ornate and modern-looking folding chairs in later history. A good example is the field chair of Napoleon I Napoleonic Fauteuil which is the precursor of the Director's Chair of the 20th Century.
The modern times saw the development of the folding chair as a truly practical piece of furniture. As newer and lighter raw materials surfaced and modern design concepts were developed using very efficient and fast manufacturing processes, folding chairs of all colors, shapes and sizes flourished. They were extensively used for a variety of purposes - as classroom seats, for outdoor gathering, camping and yes, for military use. |
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Author Resource:-
Nick Morgan is an authority as regards folding tables. To learn about all the details relating to folding banqueting tables, go to the website at - http://www.foldingtables.uk.com
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By :
Jessie Stone
Submitted
2010-11-06 07:38:07 |
Article From Article Mayhem
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