The chair

A chair is a seat for one person: legs, a seat and a back-rest. It can be wood, metal or synthetic, bare or upholstered. The word comes from the Latin cathedra and the Greek kathedra, meaning seat or throne.

The shape is simple. Getting it right is not, and it has taken a few thousand years.

Chairs are at least 5,000 years old. In ancient Egypt they were carved wood, ebony and ivory, and the higher your rank, the taller your chair. Most families owned none, or one, for the master of the house.

For centuries the chair stood for authority. We still say the chair of a meeting or a board. Ordinary people sat on chests, benches and stools.

In Europe the Renaissance changed that. Once a chair stopped being a privilege, it spread quickly, and its style began to change with fashion. In China chairs only became widespread in the 12th century. By the 1800s, most American homes had a chair for every person at the dinner table, and the Industrial Revolution made them cheap.

A sofa is a chair for two or more. It grew out of the bench, with a back, arms and padding added.

The frame decides how long it lasts. Solid wood and honest joinery hold for decades.

Read more about sofas

A good chair starts with the body. Seat height follows the distance from the floor to the back of the knee. Too high and your feet dangle. Too low and the weight sinks onto the seat bones. Seat depth follows the length of the thigh.

• Back: a low back supports the lower back, a shoulder-high back supports all of it.
• Arms: armrests should carry the forearm, not the elbow, and make it easier to stand up.
• Padding: it spreads weight over a larger area. A hard wooden seat feels hard because the contact is small, so the shape has to do the work.
• Lean: a chair for long sitting should recline a little.

The 20th century added metal frames, moulded plywood, plastic and adjustable office chairs. Wood is still what we trust for a chair that is meant to last.