I walk by a chaise lounge in someone’s shady front yard. Looks like a great place to relax. It doesn’t have quite the same feeling as a hammock, but you have more control of it. Many chaise lounges have different levels of reclining that can be set. Plus you can recline all the way back which makes it almost as good as a bed, provided the surface is comfortable. Many chaise lounges are made of a stretchy canvas which can be pulled taut over the frame, giving a solid surface to lay on. The one in the photo looks like it is more comfy than an army cot. For sun worshippers, of course, they are ideal. People can bask in the sun to their heart’s content at different angles, often lying face down to make the tan — or sunburn — even. I had a friend who discovered that the easiest way to put chaise lounges on her second-story deck was to tote them up an outside fire escape. It was a difficult process, but definitely worthwhile. Chaise lounges often look to me like the ultimate form of relaxation. Let’s find out more about them.
According to Wikipedia, a chaise longue or "long chair" is an upholstered sofa in the shape of a chair that is long enough to support the legs.
In modern French, the term chaise longue can refer to any long reclining chair such as a deckchair, a folding chair, usually with a frame of treated wood or other material. A literal translation in English is "long chair." In the United States the term lounge chair is also used to refer to any long reclining chair.
In the United States, the term is often spelled "chaise lounge," a folk etymology replacement of part of the original French term with the unrelated English word lounge.
Chaise lounge in ancient Egypt
According to the July 14, 2016 article “The History of the Chaise Longue” at franceshunt.co.uk, from excavations of ancient Egyptian tombs, archaeologists suspect that the long chairs found there are the earliest historical examples of the origins of the chaise longue, dating back to around 3000 BC. For the affluent, the frame would be constructed in wood and feature an ivory or ebony veneer. Earlier still — and for the less affluent Egyptians — these items of furniture were most likely made from palm sticks and wicker.
According to the article “The Chaise: A Long History” at trexfurniture.com, an important furniture fixture in ancient Egypt, the chaise lounge served as a daybed/chair in-between, which offered a place of repose … a respite, if you will, from heat of the day in arid desert climes. The queen of temptation herself, Cleopatra, used a chaise, and the chairs symbolized luxury and wealth while offering the sitter comfort and style.
Chaise lounge in ancient Greece
According to Theta A’s March 27, 2019 article “What is a Futon Chaise Lounge Bed” at thefutonshop.com, in ancient Greece and Rome, reclining was a totally acceptable — if not solemn — posture in social settings, so the presence of the daybed seems pretty natural. In Greece, even meals were taken lying down, propped up on one elbow on a u-shaped triclinium, couches surrounding a central table.
According to the July 14, 2016 article “The History of the Chaise Longue” at franceshunt.co.uk, reclining in a long chair whilst dining or socializing was normal practice for the Greeks during 8th century BC. In Ancient Greece, the chair was known as a kline or klinai. The kline would be draped in layers of fabrics and have cushions propped up against the headrest. They were popular for Greek symposiums — social gatherings where men would drink and converse among each other in rows of these kline couches against three walls facing the door.
Chaise lounge during the Roman empire
Much like the chaise longue in Ancient Greece, the Romans also took a shine to reclining during meal times and banquets. There was even a name for assuming this posture to eat: “accubatio,” the act of reclining at the table. The Roman chaise longue was known as a “lectus.” The Romans, however, hadn’t quite mastered the art of upholstery, and so the lectus would be crafted in wood and stacked with cushions for comfort. Many customs and aesthetic features of the Greek symposium were adopted by the Romans who enjoyed banqueting and merrymaking in a similar fashion. This was called a “comissatio” and refers to the social after-dinner drinking that would last long into the night.
According to Theta A’s March 27, 2019 article “What is a Futon Chaise Lounge Bed” at thefutonshop.com, in Rome, the daybed was perhaps the most important piece of furniture used in bedrooms, libraries and dining rooms. This long wooden seat was fitted with one high side, like a headboard, stacked with pillows and crisscrossed with leather straps to support a rush- or horsehair-stuffed mattress. This lounging bed was used for reading, writing, eating and lively discussion, and sometimes had two sides and a back — a precursor to the couch.
Origins in France
Modern chaise longues were first popularized during the 16th century in France. They were created by French furniture craftsmen for the rich to rest without the need to retire to the bedroom. It was during the Rococo period that the chaise longue became the symbol of social status and only the rarest and most expensive materials were used in its construction. Today, the chaise longue is seen as a luxury item for the modern home. It is often used to complement a home's décor such as living or reading rooms or as a stylish boudoir chair for bedroom seating.
Duchesse brisée or broken duchess in French — The chaise longue is divided in two parts: the chair and a long footstool or two chairs with a stool in between them. The origin of the name is unknown.
Récamier — It has two raised ends, and nothing on the long sides. It is sometimes associated with French Empire neo-classical style. It is named after French society hostess Madame Récamier (1777–1849), who posed elegantly on a couch of this kind for a portrait painted in 1800 by Jacques-Louis David. The shape of the récamier is similar to a traditional lit bateau or boat bed but made for the drawing room, not the bedroom.
Méridienne — It has a high headrest and a lower footrest, joined by a sloping piece. Whether or not they have anything at the foot end, méridiennes are asymmetrical daybeds. They were popular in the grand houses of France in the early 19th century. Its name is from its typical use — rest in the middle of the day, when the sun is near the meridian.
Victorian fainting couch
According to Wikipedia, a fainting couch is a term said to have been used for a couch with a back that is traditionally raised at one end. The back may be situated completely at one side of the couch or may wrap around and extend the entire length of the piece much like a traditional couch. However, so-called "fainting couches" are easily differentiated from more traditional couches, having one end of the back raised.
The style of couch referred to popularly as "fainting couches" were popular in the 19th century as a revival of ancient furniture styles.
Some people today believe that houses would take this to the level of having separate fainting rooms, where these couches would be the featured furniture.
The term "fainting couch" is not documented as being in use until the 20th century. There is nothing to suggest in advertising of the Victorian era that any article of furniture was created specifically for people to use when feeling faint and should only be considered a myth.
One theory for the predominance of what are now called "fainting couches" is that women were actually fainting because their corsets were too tight, restricting blood flow. However, pictures from the 1860s show women horseback riding, playing tennis, and engaging in other vigorous activities in corsets without hindrance.
Another theory for their predominance is that the treatment of hysteria through manual pelvic massage by home visiting doctors and midwives required regular, typically weekly, in-home treatment that could sometimes take hours. Creating specialized furniture for maximum comfort during the extended procedure seems likely, as does the later creation of fainting rooms for privacy.
According to the article “The Chaise: A Long History” at trexfurniture.com,
there’s an episode of “Mad Men” in which Betty Draper hauls home a sumptuous brocade upholstered chaise longue because she felt “overwhelmed.” While it may have been a bit out of date for the mid- to late-1960s, many formal parlors still featured some form of the chaise.
From the late 1920s and bleeding into the 1960s—a la Betty Draper’s era—chaise lounges fit the bill as a “form meets function” piece. Famous architects and designers fiddled with the chair’s design, keeping the chaise at the forefront of the prefabrication revolution.
Le Corbusier chaise longue
In 1928, famed Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier collaborated with fellow Bauhaus cohorts to create a sleek, metal-framed chaise that offered the sitter unparalleled flexibility. A user could tilt the frame either to raise up the head and lower the feet or vice versa. Sanitariums for recuperating tuberculosis patients in the Swiss Alps featured chaise lounges that resembled a hospital bed/chaise cross.
According to the May 9, 2018 article “LC Collection (1929)” at idesign.wiki, designed in 1928, the LC4 Chaise Longue was dubbed the “relaxing machine” because of how it mirrored the body’s natural curves, while appearing to float above its steely supports. The design’s main feature was the seemingly unlimited number of sitting-angle poses accommodated by the LC4, as the moving frame adjusts itself to better suit the user from an upright position to a fully reclined one. Today, the LC4 is part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Charles and Ray Eames chaise lounge
According to vitra.com, Charles and Ray Eames designed the elegant lounge chair La Chaise for a competition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1948. It was inspired by the 'Floating Figure' sculpture by Gaston Lachaise. The lounge chair has long since established itself as an icon of organic design.
According to the article “The Chaise: A Long History” at trexfurniture.com,
Charles and Ray Eames, the famous designer duo known for their eponymous molded chairs, created distinct Fiberglass shell chaise lounges with tubular steel legs — a look that really embodies that distinct mid-century modern style.
Psychoanalysis
The chaise longue has traditionally been associated with psychoanalysis. Sigmund Freud initiated the use of the chaise longue for this purpose, with the idea being that the patient would recline on a couch, with the analyst seated beyond the head of the couch, so that the client would not see the analyst. Reclining and not having to face the analyst was thought to be disinhibiting and to encourage free association. At the time Freud began to use the chaise longue, it was considered daring in Vienna to recline on a chaise in the presence of non-intimates. Freud's own chaise longue, given to him by a patient, may be seen today at the Freud Museum in London.
Today, psychoanalysts continue to invite clients to recline on couches in their offices during psychotherapy and may use chaises longues rather than more conventional styles of couch out of tradition. The chaise longue is used to suggest a generic psychotherapist's office in cartoons and other works.
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