Henredon Blog

Evolution Of The Bergère Chair

Definitions first. What is a bergère chair?

A bergère chair is a French-style arm chair with a large upholstered and/or cushioned seat, an exposed wooden frame, and closed sides. The back and arms are usually upholstered, but they can also have cane work. The back and arms are always closed, rather than open like a fauteuil chair.

Even though they can look a bit formal to 21st-century eyes, bergères were designed to be comfy lounge chairs during the time of Louis XV and Marie Antoinette. That's why they often have matching ottomans — for maximum lounging. The one pictured above is from the Palace at Versailles where the French royal family lived until the French Revolution. 

Traditionally, a bergère chair is pretty girlie. Delicate, usually covered in a fussy fabric, comfy but petite. Not a manly chair, and that's fine. But sometimes a more manly space needs that combination of comfy and formal that a bergère chair can bring.

Bergère chairs aren't just for French country girlie rooms any more.

There are very modern bergères (Decorati Access showed a nice modern bergere in a design showcase last summer) and you see them in eclectic and cottage-style spaces, as well (there are some nice examples in the book Flawless Interior Decorating on Google Books).

You can modernize an antique or traditional bergere with casual fabrics and bright colors (Habitually Chic showed a great striking orange bergere, scroll down a little).

If you want a traditionally feminine feel you can find brand new traditional bergères or bergère chairs with just a hint of modern feel, but don't stop there.

There are great bergères that combine masculine details like nail-head trim and a club-chair feel with the bergère's best features.

Or you can choose something that combines all of those elements of a bergère (exposed wooden frame, closed back and arms, upholstery, generous comfy seat cushion, matching ottoman) and yet looks like a totally 21st-century chair.

Frank Lloyd Wright For Henredon

Henredon's commitment to working great designers has a long history.

In the 1950s, the famous architect of "prairie style," Frank Lloyd Wright, designed a collection of furniture for Heritage-Henredon, a cross-licensing venture of Henredon and Heritage (now Drexel Heritage).

For more details and some pictures of the Frank Lloyd Wright pieces for Heritage-Henredon:

• The Highpoint Museum's blog has some pictures and details about the Frank Lloyd Wright collection
  
• The Wisconsin Historical Museum has some examples of Heritage-Henredon pieces by Frank Lloyd Wright in their collection
• PrairieMod posted some details about a great guide to the Heritage-Henredon Frank Lloyd Wright collection

How many companies can say that pieces they created for homes and families ended up being so special that collectors and museums are excited about them? Henredon is still committed to working with amazing designers to create furniture that will gain beauty and value over time.

Arts & Crafts Details, Modern Feel

For an artistic movement that started more than a century ago, English Arts & Crafts design still feels remarkably fresh.

Compare the 1903 Arts & Crafts side table from the Victoria & Albert Museum (right) with a modern Henredon side table (above, on the far right).

Both tables illustrate one of the most important aspects of Arts & Crafts Style, and part of the reason the style is still so influential today: simplicity.

But to our modern sensibilities, original Arts & Crafts interiors can feel dark and overwhelming. I've stood in some of those original Arts & Crafts rooms over the years and they have a certain gothic gloom. Check out these interiors by English Arts & Crafts visionary Charles Voysey for some beautiful but not exactly light and airy examples.

Modern pieces with Arts & Crafts influence can be a great solution when faithful Arts & Crafts reproductions or actual antiques seem overwhelming. Henredon's Spring Lake Collection combines modern sensibility and more Asian influences to create Arts & Crafts looks that feel like a good fit in a modern home.

By the way, the V&A Museum has a great Arts & Crafts Style Guide with lots of examples and more information about elements of Arts & Crafts style you can look for and borrow for a modern interior.

 

Italian Fantasies

Golden sunlight. Pops of red, orange, gold and royal blue. A mix of stained and painted wood. Whimsical murals next to stone floors. Wrought iron accents.

If you're in the mood for an Italian escape, take some cues from Tuscan Style by Angelika Taschen (published in 2008). 

Or fantasize about a vacation in Castellina in Chianti in the Tuscan wine country, the city that inspired Henredon's Castellina collection.

Creating a Tuscan fantasy interior requires a blend of sunlight, color, and special pieces of furniture that capture the elements of Tuscan design.

You can bring in a few elements of Tuscan design with one carefully chosen piece. Bring in a dark finish, a fanciful painted finish and a wrong iron detail with a single Castellina desk. 

Or display a special collection of Italian heirlooms in a Tuscan-style curio cabinet.

Barbara Barry at Henredon's Michigan Design Center Showroom

The Michigan Design Center's Henredon Showroom recently hosted an event with designer Barbara Barry.

Local interior designer Tracy Garfield posted some pictures of the event to her Facebook page and wrote a nice blog post about why she was so excited to meet Barbara Barry.

Winging It

A great suggestion for using a wing chair as part of this year's trend to mix unexpected elements has been showing up in several places:

"Juxtapose a classic wingback chair with a contemporary metal and glass table. The end result is a modern, elegant and fresh look that is both timeless and current."

The modern wing back chair was probably first developed in England and America around 1750. It evolved from an old French style called the "confessional" chair. Whatever the original purpose of a wing back (theories abound), sitting in a classic wing chair feels dignified and cozy at the same time.

And wing back chairs are taking on all kinds of new looks lately, while maintaining the classic flared shape in one way or another.  

Henredon & The Meaning Of Life

The Henredon Showroom in Dallas, Tex., recently hosted a book signing with local author Chris Brown and artist John Palmer. Their book, The Art of Meaningful Living, combines psychology and works of art to help readers find more meaning in their lives. Pretty cool.

We were especially glad to know that people enjoyed hanging out at Henredon. Here's what a commenter said about the event on the Lower Oak Lawn blog:

"[We] had an amazing time in Dallas and we love the team at Henredon Showroom. Their space is absolutely breathtaking."

Rococo Revival

Sometimes the word "rococo" gets a bad rap. You might even hear it used as an insult to describe something garish or overdone. (Like that crazy apartment from Season 4 of Project Runway where Tim Gunn told Chris March he had been "living in the monkey house." If you called that apartment "rococo" it wouldn't be a compliment!)

But true rococo design is more than just a messy pile of too much decoration. It's the delicate balance of intricate decoration with grace, elegance and a sense of lightness. Originally, rococo style came from 18th-century France, but Rococo Revival was a popular style in 19th-century America, especially for formal drawing rooms or parlors. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a nice explanation of Rococo Revival style in an essay about American "revival" styles of the 19th century. 

Henredon's Natchez Collection brings American Rococo Revival styles into the 21st century by combining the intricate carvings and rich wood finishes of the antebellum South with modern comforts. It was developed through a licensing agreement with the Historic Natchez Foundation of Natchez, Mississippi.

Natchez is one of the oldest American cities on the Mississippi River. It was founded by French settlers in the early 1700s and is still a tourist attraction for people looking for a "Southern Belle" vacation experience. If you're interested in visiting a Natchez gem for some southern charm, there are some gorgeous house museums with great style.

Crushing on Quatrefoil

 The quatrefoil is an iconic shape and has been used for centuries in classic architecture and design. Once the domain of prominent Gothic Revival and Renaissance architecture, the simple clover-leaf shape seemed to fade in popularity for a time. But over the past few years it has enjoyed an enormous resurgence in design. Whether it's Van Cleef & Arpels or Louis Vuitton or a Suzanne Kasler chair, the once all but forgotten quatrefoil is seemingly  everywhere in jewelry and accessories. (Just don't mention the trendy shape to Heidi Klum.)

The simple form comes in many variations, but I'm particularly drawn to the specific shape of this Cara Mirror. It's the tiny points that separate the petals that give it that extra "pop" in my opinion. It keeps the frame from being too simple and lends it a more edgy appearance. 

Besides... I'd want a mirror at least this pretty for putting on the incredible baubles and bracelets bearing the quatrefoil. After all, someone has to appreciate the classics! 

Colonial Style

Am I the only one who remembers the episode of Friends where Rachel tries to convince Phoebe her new furniture isn't new and it turns out Rachel can only name two time periods: "colonial" and "yore"?

I don't know what "yore" period furniture would look like (ha ha), but some of the most classic American furniture styles come from the colonial era, when the 13 original colonies were still under British rule.

Thomas Chippendale, George Hepplewhite and Thomas Sheraton are some of the best remembered designers from the colonial period and their work helped inspire Henredon's Oxford Classics collection.

A common feature of colonial-style furniture is what's known as the "cabriole" leg (with that lovely, graceful curve). These dining chairs have cabriole legs, as well as ladder backs (also a traditional colonial style element).

But ladder backs aren't the only way to finish off a great colonial chair. Chippendale-style colonial chairs are known for "pierced back splats," which means intricately carved vertical support pieces in the center of an open-backed chair. You can see the modern versions of a pierced back splat in this lovely dining room picture, that features these dining chairs and this dining table from Henredon's Aston Court collection (also inspired by English designs from the 18th-century). Check out the cabriole leg on the table.

To see some beautiful colonial originals, check out George Washington's dining room (look for those pierced back splats). You can also see some great ladder back chairs in his small dining room.