Dan's Papers - July 4, 2008 - The Charms of Chinese Chippendale Chairs

As you may recall from your school days, sometimes the best way to jump-start an essay is with a few tentatively reworded passages purloined from an out-of-date encyclopedia. In order to blast through my writer's block, I scanned the article on "Chairs" in Volume 5, CHA to COL, in The Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement. More of an aider and abettor to procrastination than a font of tangibly useful information, this multi-volume set is chock-a-block with deliriously kitschy interior design from the 1960s. I was lucky to purchase the mint-condition books for a mere $5.00 at a church tag sale in the pastoral hinterlands of Connecticut. Unfortunately, the text lacks the juicy color and the pop-art punch of illustrations but is rather neutral in tone, although the pictures make for lazy days flipping through dazzling designs.

Here is the straightforward caption underscoring a black and white shot of bamboo chairs on page 778: "Bamboo turnings in chairs or tables have been popular since the mid-eighteenth century. Thomas Chippendale made extensive use of bamboo in his Chinese designs. Usually the wood ... had a painted finish. This technique was used frequently for bedroom chairs and tables. Bamboo turnings suggest a traditional feeling, yet they blend well." In truth, celebrated furniture maker Thomas Chippendale never actually designed bamboo or faux-bamboo chairs, but such seats still bear his weighty name. Chippendale's Chinese-style chairs with elaborate backs, intricate pagoda crests and geometric, flat carvings were informed by Oriental latticework and fretwork but were not made of bamboo or faux bamboo like many of the chairs grouped under the rubric "Chinese Chippendale" today.

Unavoidably ubiquitous to design mavens and catalog shoppers familiar with the market, Chinese Chippendale-style chairs have seen a resurgence in popularity the past few years. For its meticulous attention to authentic detail, the top of the line reproduction would be San Francisco socialite designer Ann Getty's elegant Georgian-style cream and gilt Winter Garden chair modeled after a ca.1760 original in her collection. However, most contemporary pieces are stylized modern interpretations of the genre in bamboo and cane, wood fashioned to resemble bamboo, or metal faux bamboo. They may have Chinese-style geometric motifs but these are generally more streamlined and simplified than the original Chippendale creations.

Contemporary designers, including the thrillingly daring Kelly Wearstler, the ebulliently stylish Jonathan Adler, and the swankily feminine Ruthie Sommers set the tone and define the trend, lending the style a refreshing update with vivid color and strong lines. From these leading lights in the design world, the so-called Chinese Chippendale chair or faux bamboo chair has reached outwards and downwards in consumer consciousness from the high to the low, one might say. Ballard Designs, West Elm, and Front Gate are just a few of the numerous catalog emporia featuring various versions of the iconic style. Many of these chairs are acceptable, some are even quite appealing, and others are just plain cheap and cheesy.

True trendsetters and the self-consciously stylish who avidly seek the next rare revelation may feel that these Chinoiserie-style seats have seen their heyday, just like the oversized damask prints, zebra rugs, David Hicks retro patterns, dark woods, blue and brown color combination, or bird silhouettes that have also recently inundated decorating magazines and littered the blogosphere. However, the posh pedigree and refined personality of the so-called Chippendale chairs make them an ever-welcome guest at the dining table. As Adler claims on his website, "Our Chinese Chippendale chairs are the ultimate dining chair and you'd be mad not to own them!" Versatile, elegant, and vivacious, with a fresh coat of color they are always palatable.

In designing his faux-bamboo side chair, which he rightly considers a must-have item, zippy tastemaker Adler was also inspired by 1960s and 70s design. A look back at high-style homes and haute watering holes from that time proves inspirational. In 1971, the celebrated gossip columnist known as Suzy described the fantastically vibrant Peacock Alley, a restaurant at The Waldorf Astoria. Decorated by Ellen McCluskey in homage to the bizarrely beautiful Brighton Pavilion, an early 19th Century Chinoiserie pleasure dome graced with an exuberant and extravagant richness of detail, Peacock Alley features Chinese Chippendale seating.

In one section of Peacock Alley, a white wrought iron faux-bamboo chandelier illuminates the striking see and be-seen scene, where white Chinese Chippendale chairs upholstered in hot pink are paired with sleek snakeskin banquettes in midnight blue, all perched on a blue ceramic tile floor bordered in white. Off-white columns entwined with gilt serpents punctuate the glamorous space. An inner lounge features shirred peacock feather-printed fabric and Chippendale chairs upholstered in a modishly offbeat acid green and mauve. Although the style of this fantastic folly may be a little wild for your Bridgehampton breakfast room or Southampton sunroom, the color scheme is a revelation.

On a recent search of 1stDibs.com, a website which is literally like a hallucinogenic drug for the decorator and antiques aficionado, I discovered a fabulous avocado-colored faux bamboo enameled metal table and chairs for sale at Home 114 on Shelter Island. Perhaps the idea of avocado gives you a bad taste in your mouth as you recall the puke-green appliances in your childhood kitchen, but this fun and funky dinette set from the 1970s is tangy and timelessly tasty! For your edification, there is an important historical reference to the color family, as the beautifully preserved Chinoiserie ensemble designed by Chippendale for the State Bedroom at Nostell Priory, a venerable British Palladian mansion, is lacquered in a piquant olive green.

Back in the 1970s, it was considered truly adventurous to pair Chippendale-style chairs with a sleek and simple lacquered Parsons table or mate them with a glass and chrome dining table! In photographs and descriptions of bamboo chairs and Chippendale Chinoiserie from the swinging 70s, I've encountered shiny white chairs with black plastic seats arranged around a black and white striped Formica table and bright Coral Chinese Chippendale chairs teamed with a glass-topped chrome dining table lit by a flying saucer shaped plastic chandelier. Designer Melvin Dwork, no dork but an influential decorator listed in the prestigious Architectural Digest AD 100 and the Interior Design Hall of Fame, orchestrated an eclectic dining room where white lacquered Chippendale chairs contrast with the straightforward lines of a simple burled elm dining table, surrounded by the stimulating shock of shiny walls horizontally striped in broad bands of gold, black and white patent leather vinyl from the floor up to the tray ceiling.

For those who may claim that if they are confronted with yet another pale green or blue bamboo chair they will do something drastic, either to themselves or the current issue of Domino magazine they're reading, perhaps such a blast from the past will prove salubrious in assuring the timely traditionalism and the versatility of Chinese Chippendale.