The Chair Gang Trivia Quiz

Answer: A barrel chair

A barrel chair, also known as a tub chair, is semi-circular in shape having a high and upright back. Effectively, it looks like a barrel cut in half lengthways with a seat inserted into the middle. Its origins are unclear but it was certainly in use in the early nineteenth century. A famous example of barrel chair design is that of Frank Lloyd Wright in 1937.

Would you believe that in researching "wrong" answers I've discovered the existence of parrot chairs, cutlass chairs, barnacle chairs, pegleg chairs and brandy chairs?

Answer: They are X-shaped like the crossed bones.

The curule seat is particularly associated with the Roman Empire. It was usually made from ivory, and its use denoted status as it was reserved for those with "imperium".

The Dante and Savonarola chairs date from fifteenth century Italy and bear the names, respectively, of Dante Alighieri and Girolamo Savonarola. A German version is named after Martin Luther.

Answer: Because it's also known as a plank chair

The Adirondack chair was designed by American, Thomas Lee, in the early twentieth century. It is so named because Lee's motivation was a chair he could use outdoors when vacationing in the Adirondack mountains of New York state. The first examples were manufactured locally at Westport by carpenter, Harry Bunnell, and bore the name of the town. In Canada it is known as a Muskoka chair.

Answer: A chaise longue

Chaise Longue translates into English as "long chair" and is so-named because it allows the seated person to sit upright with their extended legs supported. It is an eighteenth century French version of the day-bed, itself popular, historically, in many different styles with many different cultures.

Answer: A butterfly chair

A butterfly chair is made of fabric stretched across a light folding frame with oversized "wings" at the corners. It was designed in 1938 by an Argentinean architect named Jorge Ferrari Hardoy and was originally called a BFK chair from his initial and those of his partners, Antonio Bonet and Juan Kurchan.

Answer: The Barcelona chair

The iconic Barcelona chair was created for the Ibero-American Exposition in 1929. It was designed by German architects, Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich who took their inspiration from the classic X-shaped chairs of antiquity.

Answer: It did not require skilled labour.

"The greatest chair ever designed already exists and it's more than 150 years old." (Stephen Bayley, writing of the No.14 in the UK "Observer" newspaper, August 23rd, 2009)

The Thonet No.14 chair, also known as the Bistro chair, was designed by German, Michael Thonet, in the mid-nineteenth century and launched in 1859. It comprised a steam-bent wooden frame that was cheap to make and did not require skilled craftsmen for its construction. It can not only claim to be one of the first chairs mass-produced for a wide market but also one of the first examples of flat-pack furniture, as it could be transported and then assembled at its destination.

No complete sales figures are available but 50 million chairs had been sold up to 1930. (Source: "New York Times" November 7th, 2008)

Answer: A director's chair

The director's chair is another example of a folding fabric chair with a light frame. It is also a direct descendant of other X-shaped chairs such as the Curule and Dante.

Answer: A Wiggle chair

The Wiggle chair is part of a series, designed by Canadian architect Gehry, entitled "Easy Edges". The design originally dates from 1972 and is made from cardboard and hardboard.

Captain Feathersword appears on "The Wiggles". And no, a Teletubbie chair is not for obese couch potatoes.

Answer: They're both legless.

A Zaisu is another example of a folding chair. It is a (usually) wooden framed floor chair commonly used on tatami mats.