User:Spideog/Sandbox/Chiavari chair

The Chiavari chair, also known as the Chiavarina, or Tiffany chair, is a wooden chair of Ligurian design.

History
The Chiavarina was created in 1807 by a cabinetmaker from Chiavari on the northwestern Italian coast, Giuseppe Gaetano Descalzi (known as "Campanino" because he came from a family of bell ringers), who at the invitation of the president of the Economic Society of Chiavari, the Marquis Stefano Rivarola, reworked some chairs in the French Empire style, simplifying the decorative elements and lightening the structural elements.

The chair was a success and soon many factories opened in Chiavari and surrounding towns. When Gaetano Descalzi died in 1855, about 600 workers were making Chiavari chairs. The chair was praised by Charles Albert of Savoy, Napoleon III, and by the sculptor Antonio Canova.

The success of the Chiavarina declined following the introduction of the Austrian chairs of Michael Thonet which were mass-produced, less expensive, and consisting of few elements easily assembled, and in the second half of the twentieth century, following competition from industrial production. The architect and designer Gio Ponti was inspired by the structural system of the Chiavari chair for his Superleggera chair of 1955.

Structural features
The special lightness of the chair is achieved by structural sections: each component is designed according to the specific stresses it will carry. The slot system developed by Gaetano Descalzi contributes to the robustness of the structure.

The timbers originally used by Descalzi were wild cherry and maple, which were added to beech and ash, all of them from inland forests in Italy.

The seat was made with thin strips of purple willow, hand woven in the weft and warp directly to the frame of the chair and tied according to the system devised by Descalzi.

Contemporary use
The chairs survive in Italy, where some shops still produce the Chiavarina using traditional methods and materials. Chiavari chairs are in use globally where event planners and catering companies appreciate the elegant appearance and lightness of the chair, and its convenient stackability. The Chiavari chair is used in the State Dining Room and Family Dining Room in the White House in Washington D.C., and silver Chiavaris were used during the inauguration of Barack Obama as seating for his family and guests.