Click to View More
 | We're getting married tomorrow! NO one knows! :) Thank you for the beautiful Morris chair and tableThomas & Kathryn Desjardins, Salem, MA. |
are the royal
ancestors
of all
"Recliners"
John Ruskin was the theoretician of the Arts & Crafts Movement, but it was really William Morris who put the theory into practice. [Quarter Sawn White Oak Morris Chair with Leather Cushion]
His belief that you shouldn't have anything around you that isn't beautiful, or useful, or, ideally, both, has its highest expression in the chair that bears his name. Morris chairs are possibly the most comfortable reading chairs ever made. And the expressed joinery that most makers use for the chairs makes them exquisitely beautiful not because of anything painted on them, but because of how they are made. And the adjustment mechanism which gives the Morris chair a claim on the First Recliner title, is easy to use, hard to break, and works every time.
William Morris (1834 - 1896) was an English writer, painter, designer, printer, and one of the great Victorian social reformers. Looking to medieval traditions to restore art as an integral part of human well-being and progress, he believed beauty could be found in utility.
In 1861, William Morris founded Morris & Co. to make furniture, carvings, fabric, tapestries, stained glass, and wallpaper. The first Morris Chair, though not actually designed by William Morris himself, was made by Morris & Company about 1866. It can be seen in period photos of Morris's home - in ebonized oak with cushioned armrests, its spindles turned as though they were strings of beads.
Morris Chairs are the royal ancestors of all "recliners" such as those made by LaZboy. While the chairs are most often made of oak, nothing says it must be that way. And while Morris chairs are most often in the Eastern US Arts & Crafts style, there's no reason not to make one in the Southwestern Mission Arts & Crafts style.(from web database)
No matter what piece you are looking for most likely we have it in our inventory or know how to locate it for you!
CALL US toll free at 877.447.5268 or at 802.875.3032 with all your antique needs as well as to inquire about current available inventory.
