It is hard to believe that the summer is upon us in Sweden and we are almost halfway through 2019. It has been a really wonderful six months of chair exploration on the Please Be Seated blog and chairs from all different backgrounds and genres have been featured.
What author Gun Bjerkander Handbag aims todo through her blog and publications is present a smorgasbord of interesting chairs tales to delight, inform and inspire.
As you can see from our chair carousel we have included numerous styles of chairs, from various countries, periods and materials all celebrated for their individuality and unique tales.
From the stylish Queen Anne chair to the enormously indulgent Mega chair, with is ostentations mouldings and red plush velvet upholstery, author Gun Bjerkander Handberg seeks out the elegant and alternative. Gun has now written and published almost 70 unique chair tales and continues to photograph and research chairs each week, finding them on her travels.
The jolly Rose Chair, which was featured in book II, was discovered by Gun whilst visiting good friends in London. She was instantly struct by the amusing arm rests and playful rose petal back rests and its tale of travel from Italy.
The Louis Ghost chair was recently featured in Please Be Seated – More Historic Chairs and the Tales They Tell. Here is a small quotation from the chapter:
“Like an astral body in polycarbonate, the Louis Ghost chair embarked on its worldwide odyssey in 2000. It’s name is most fitting considering the chair’s resemblance to all those French eighteenth- century Louis XVI chairs. Or perhaps you prefer to see it as a modern reincarnation of the dapper Swedish Gustavian chair and its French forbears.
Be that as it may, our own little Gustavian arm- chair was gripped by fear on seeing this spectral presence.
Could ghosts really materialise in broad daylight? And in such numbers, too? There are similarities – there’s no denying that – but being invisible is a total impossibility for an eighteenth-century chair.
The little armchair reflected on the fact that it had often heard talk not only of the physical body and the mental body, but also of the astral body, which some maintain is composed of an aura, a nebulous haze that surrounds our physical being.
Could this diaphanous apparition be somehow related to the antique armchair? Might it be her astral projection?
Oh dear, the mere thought is enough to make you shudder! Best not to delve any deeper into such territory, but to leave our Louis Ghost to its owner, who has four of them in his dining room.
The man behind this chair is Philippe Starck from Paris.“
Next week we shall feature a new blog on another chair which has caught the eye of the author Gun and we hope that you will enjoy that tale and the rest of the summer as the blog unfolds!
Notes from the editor:
Vind & Våg Publishing House are proud to present Please Be Seated – Historic Chairs and the Tales They Tell which are available now online and can be ordered from your local bookshop.
Please Be Seated – Historic Chairs and the Tales They Tell ISBN: 9780992708474
Please Be Seated – More Historic Chairs and the Tales They Tell: 9780992708481
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