Side Chair 1808 - 1812

This side chair was created by Samuel Gragg in the late 18th or early 19th century. Notice the chair's bentwood design and the bamboo-like turnings on the legs and stretchers; these evoke a sense of lightness and natural harmony. But let us not be deceived by its simplicity. This chair whispers of a longing for the exotic. The bamboo motif, borrowed from the East, appears as a recurring element in Western designs throughout history. It is reminiscent of the Chinoiserie style, a European interpretation of Chinese and East Asian artistic traditions. The visual vocabulary of the East, laden with centuries of symbolic weight, seeps into Western consciousness. This act of cultural borrowing speaks to our collective fascination with the 'other,' a phenomenon deeply rooted in the human psyche. The chair thus becomes more than a functional object; it becomes a vessel carrying a complex interplay of cultural desires and historical echoes.