Upholstered seating is familiar to all of us as a more or less constant companion in everyday life.
Upholstery conveys a sense of security and promises comfort, suggests or creates status, and tells a (hi)story. We barely give a thought to its interior. Yet a glimpse inside the chairs and armchairs is a journey into secrets, of lashed and sprung constructions, which prove to be unknown master-pieces of craftsmanship.
DEEP-SEATED: The Secret Art of Upholstery traces pieces of furniture and their inner details and illustrates why upholstery is a constant constituent of cultural and social history. From the Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Classicism, Historicism, and Art Nouveau to designs by Arne Jacobsen and Alvar Aalto, the history of upholstered furniture is traced up to the present day. It also includes a closer examination of the corresponding tools, textiles, braiding, tassels, and cushions. All this accumulated knowledge is summarised at the end in an extensive glossary for reference.
Preface / Olaf Thormann Introduction / Thomas Schriefers Renaissance – Baroque – Rococo / Thomas Schriefers Tools and springs / Thomas Schriefers The chamber horse – Sprung fitness equipment of the eighteenth century / Cordula Fink Variations of Classicism / Xenia Schürmann Upholstery of a Classicist chair / Thomas Schriefers Dwelling in the first third of the nineteenth century / Thomas Rudi Historicism and Jugendstil / Thomas Schriefers Different demands – New ideas / Thomas Schriefers With brilliant effect – A seating group designed by Ernst Max Jahn in 1928 / Thomas Andersch Conventions / Thomas Schriefers After 1945 / Thomas Schriefers Rethinking / Thomas Schriefers Listening, seeing, touching, sitting / Thomas Schriefers 500 years of furnishing textiles for upholstered furniture / Stefanie Seeberg Delicate artworks – Braids and tassels / Stefanie Seeberg Upholstering arm- and backrests / Maximilian Busch Cushions / Maximilian Busch Glossary: Technical terms, materials, techniques Objects and images Remarks Bibliography List of illustrations Imprint
