A chair at first glance might feel functional – something you sit on, something you put in your lounge, a design aesthetic – but a chair is much more than that. It's a mark on history, a moment in time reflection of society, a design feat. To hold a human body, a chair needs meticulous crafting – the physics need to be right, the material must be durable and strong, and the leg height must align to allow people of all sizes to comfortably place their feet on the ground.
A chair also tells a story – of the materials available at that time, the curves and lines that reflect period art, and the inspiration that a maker draws upon. And when you bring all these things together, really, a chair is much more than just a chair – it is an emotional, story-rich, spectacular artifact.
At Mr. Bigglesworthy, this deep appreciation for chairs is embedded in our DNA. It is one of the reasons why we do what we do. But we don’t want to keep this passion to ourselves! We hope others will glean as much understanding of design history and its significance to local history as we do.
We are proud to be supporting the Objectspace exhibition :
The Chair: A story of Design and Making in Aotearoa
Saturday December 2 – Saturday 3 March 2024
Read More over at Objectspace
'The Chair' will tell the story of 110 chairs throughout 170 years of our history. Featuring 83 designers and makers, this event will allow people to explore the evolution of a chair, the materials involved, and the design philosophies. Starting with the story of the whalebone chair that resides today in the Auckland Museum, viewers will be taken on a journey to experience how the story of one chair leads to another chair and how iterations of chairs reveal subtle adaptations and innovations in our society.
Mr. Bigglesworthy is proud to be loaning a selection of eight chairs from our current collection to this exhibition to support this showcase of New Zealand history. We are also grateful to our customers who have purchased an additional group of four chairs and have generously loaned these to the event, sharing the beauty of these chairs with the wider community.
While we encourage you to visit the Objectspace exhibition to garner the full experience, we wanted to give you a sneak peek with a brief history of one chair that stood out to us in the history of Aotearoa and a few of our other favourites.