Centripetal Spring Armchair, 1851 exhibition catalogue

The Centripetal Spring Chair or Armchair was a 19th-century American

office chair An office chair, or desk chair, is a type of chair that is designed for use at a desk in an office. It is usually a swivel chair, with a set of wheels for mobility and adjustable height. Modern office chairs typically use a single, distinctive l ...

, and one of the first modern designs for office chairs. Designed in 1849 by the American inventor Thomas E. Warren (b. 1808), the chair was produced by the American Chair Company in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...

. Made of cast iron and varnished steel with wood and velvet upholstery, it measured 107 × 61 × 71 centimeters with headrest and armrests, and had a seat height of 48 centimeters. The chair exhibited all features of today's office chairs except adjustable lumbar support: Referencing Olivares (2011). it allowed tilt movement in all directions and had a revolving seat,

caster A caster (or castor) is an undriven wheel that is designed to be attached to the bottom of a larger object (the "vehicle") to enable that object to be moved. Casters are used in numerous applications, including shopping carts, office chairs, t ...

wheels for ease of movement, as well as a headrest and armrests in the armchair variant. Tilting was achieved through the flexion of the four large C-shaped steel springs on which the seat rested, using the sitter's feet as a fulcrum. The modernity of its design, which included an innovative use of cast iron for the frame, was visually downplayed by hiding the springs behind a dense

passementerie Passementerie (, ) or passementarie is the art of making elaborate trimmings or edgings (in French, ) of applied braid, gold or silver cord, embroidery, colored silk, or beads for clothing or furnishings. Styles of passementerie include the tas ...

(an elaborate trim) and by rendering the frame in the nostalgic, gilded

Rococo Revival The Rococo Revival style emerged in Second Empire France and then was adapted in England. Revival of the rococo style was seen all throughout Europe during the 19th century within a variety of artistic modes and expression including decorative ...

style. After it was first presented at the 1851

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary The Crystal Palace, structure in which it was held), was an International Exhib ...

in London,''A History of American Manufactures from 1608 to 1860'', Exhibiting at the London World's Fair, Volume 2; By James Leander Bishop, Edwin Troxell Freedley, Edward Young; retrieved Google Books, June, 2012. the chair had little success outside the USA: it was deemed immoral because it was too comfortable. The

Victorian morality Victorian morality is a distillation of the moral views of the middle class in 19th-century Britain, the Victorian era. Victorian values emerged in all classes and reached all facets of Victorian living. The values of the period—which can be ...

of the time valued rigid, unsupportive seats that allowed sitters to demonstrate refinement, willpower and morality through an upright posture. Today, reflecting its place in the history of chair design, the chair is exhibited in

design museum The Design Museum in Kensington, London exhibits product, industrial, graphic, fashion, and architectural design. In 2018, the museum won the European Museum of the Year Award. The museum operates as a registered charity, and all funds generat ...

s, including the

Vitra Design Museum The Vitra Design Museum is a privately owned museum for design in Weil am Rhein, Germany. Former Vitra CEO, and son of Vitra founders Willi and Erika Fehlbaum, Rolf Fehlbaum founded the museum in 1989 as an independent private foundation. The ...

and the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

References

Bibliography

* *{{cite book, last=Shewchuk, first=Diane Mary, title=Thomas E. Warren, the American Chair Company and the centripetal spring chair, year=1993, oclc=80464431 1849 works Chairs Individual models of furniture