A club chair is a type of armchair, usually covered in leather. It was created and made in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Before it came to be known under its current name, it first appeared as the , the 'comfortable armchair'. It was given this name to distinguish it from the , which had straighter lines and was less enveloping. The

craftsmen Craftsman may refer to: A profession *Artisan, a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative * Master craftsman, an artisan who has achieved such a standard that he may establish his own workshop and take ...

involved in the design of the chair were unknown. The origins of the term "club" are unclear, but it may be a reference to the gentlemen's club.

Characteristics

Shape

While the club chair is undoubtedly a classic feature of interior decor in France, it remains just as relevant as ever today. As time has passed, the chair's charm, diversity and fame have grown. With great simplicity, the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

era produced armchairs with clean, flexible lines, in contrast to the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

style of the 1910s. After the Second World War, dozens of different shapes appeared. Some have stood the test of time, such as the "moustache" and the "gendarme’s hat", named after the shape of the backrest. The round shape has become the club armchair's most emblematic incarnation.

Manufacture

Design,

carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters tr ...

fellmonger A fellmonger was a dealer in hides or skins, particularly sheepskins, who might also prepare skins for tanning. The name is derived from the Old English ‘fell’ meaning skins and ‘monger’ meaning dealer. Fellmongery is one of the oldest pro ...

upholstery Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something. ''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English word ...

and colouring are the main crafts involved in the manufacture of a club armchair. Each chair is a product of all this combined expertise. The club armchair first appeared at the start of the 20th century, with the application of a new padding technique, using double conical springs not only in the seat cushion but also in the backrest and armrests.

Coir Coir (), also called coconut fibre, is a natural fibre extracted from the outer husk of coconut and used in products such as floor mats, doormats, brushes, and mattresses. Coir is the fibrous material found between the hard, internal shell ...

filling supplemented the suppleness of these springs. Industrial progress led to the replacement of this padding method with no-sag springs or elastic webbing, together with synthetic foam.

Covering

Coverings have changed as industrial techniques have developed, and have included

Mercerised cotton Mercerisation is a textile finishing treatment for cellulose fabric and yarn, mainly cotton and flax, which improves dye uptake and tear strength, reduces fabric shrinkage, and imparts a silk-like luster. Development The process was devis ...

, velvet,

calfskin Calfskin or calf leather is a leather or membrane produced from the hide of a calf, or juvenile domestic cattle. Calfskin is particularly valuable because of its softness and fine grain, as well as durability. It is commonly used for high-quality ...

and, most recently,

bicast leather Bicast leather (also spelled as bi-cast leather or bycast leather) is a material made with a split leather backing covered with an embossed layer of polyurethane or vinyl. Bicast leather was originally made for the apparel industry for glossy shoe ...

. However,

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...

is still considered the authentic material for the chairs. With a vegetable-tanned sheep's leather covering, the marks and defects in the skin are visible through the dye, making each chair unique. Furthermore, the particularly fine grain gives the armchair a unique patina over time. French leather was renowned for its quality in the 19th century. Between six and eight skins of approximately {{Convert, 0.8, m2, sqft, 1 each are required to cover an armchair. They are applied wet, stretched as tightly as possible, and contract as they dry. They will last around 40 years. Chairs