History of Chaise Lounges

It's not an exaggeration to say that in the history of chaise lounges, you can see the history of the world. Chaise lounge furniture incorporates a wide variety of styles - French Renaissance to Art Deco, Victorian to Modernism - and a wide variety of materials - aluminum to wicker, silk to leather.

Origins
"Chaise lounges" is actually an Americanization of the French phrase "chaise longue" (pronounced shayz long), meaning, appropriately, "long chair." Chaise lounge furniture first evolved in the 16th century, during a period when benches and stools were the norm, and chairs were reserved for authority, demonstrating leadership.

The earliest chaise lounges were made of wood and caning. Early American chaise lounges, dating from the 1600s, were derivations of the daybed, and nearly resembled a wooden insect with their long bodies and multiple legs.

The Golden Age
From such modest beginnings, chaise lounge furniture evolved into a symbol of luxury and extravagance, and truly came of age in the 20th century. Rococo-style chaise lounges, ornate in design, tasseled and cushioned, sat regally and indulgent in parlors of mansions in the 1800s.

By the 1930s, chaise lounge furniture came to be associated with Hollywood glamour. Stars of the golden age of cinema, such as Jean Harlow, Gloria Swanson, and Greta Garbo, draped themselves across chaise lounges for photo shoots.

Meanwhile, Victorian-style chaise lounge furniture became a staple of Freudian psychoanalysis, as doctors around the world adopted Freud's method of having patients recline as their dreams were interpreted.

Modern Design
In the 1920s, chaise lounge furniture fell into the very center of discussion about society and modern living. Architects such as Le Corbusier saw chaise lounges as the ultimate piece of furniture - functional indoors and out, proper for in any room, and easy to mass produce. Corbusier once wrote, "I thought of the cowboy in the Wild West, smoking his pipe, his feet in the air higher than his head against the chimney piece. This is the real machine for rest. "

Stripped-down or overstuffed, chaise lounges have been comfortably situated in bedrooms and offices, patios and parlors, since the earliest days of furniture design.