Why This Chair?
Zara McQueen
© Zara McQueen 2023
“Why bother choosing a certain chair? Because that chair says something about you”
Introduction:
My interest in chairs came unexpectedly one afternoon in November 2022 on site at AUB (Arts University Bournemouth). My intention that day was to arrange a bag containing sixty years of personal papers, letters, photographs, poems, diaries etc and turn them into a genogram. A type of family map.
I knew very quickly that this was something I didn’t want to do. I did not want to layout my life on the floor like that. I noticed the chairs pushed up against the walls. Brightly coloured, plastic, university chairs, marked with paint and studio life. I began to move them around, transforming these functional splattered pieces of furniture into me and my family.
It was an energetic and powerful exercise, triggered by the content of the unopened bag. Each rearrangement representing a moment in my family history. Sometime later I began to play around with the chairs in my studio at home. Two of them. A couple - a love story. It was fun.
The idea of changing an inanimate object into something that holds emotional meaning and has an identity interested me. I was curious to see what associations, if any, others made of their own chairs. Using social media, emails, and word of mouth, I invited people to send me an image and answer the question: Why this chair?
This book documents the response to that question. The chairs received and the reasons for choosing them vary, although there are common themes. They denote; purpose, design, family, history, childhood memories, moments, comfort, discomfort, work, play and more. Every chair tells a story, even the ones that came with no words.
I am grateful to everyone who took time to share their stories and provide such rich and varied material.
Zara McQueenIn my childhood this chair was beside the telephone in our hall. It’s pretty and comfortable.
The chair is one of four that belonged to our neighbour Steve. When he died in 1988 his furniture was put out on the pavement and now we sit on them and remember him.
A dear friend gave me a sad old chair, near the end of its life. I had it restored and it lives again, a thing of beauty once more.
This chair has been in my life since I was 14 and I’m now 61!! When my mum got her dream house this was the Carver at the head of the dining room table. It has seen so much fun and excitement. But most of all wonderful chats across a dining room table.
Have had this chair for many years, it’s had a lot of action & one day I’ll reupholster it.
Here’s the Captain’s Chair, a nice old chair, and a reminder of family and past generations. It’s a bit battered and well used but always been around at family gatherings.
The Highchair for toddlers used for all of my children and now used for all of their children. It brought them to the height of every table. A chair that looks simple and honest.
A Chair that is always remembered.
On this chair each day begins, it is here that she eats, drinks tea, laughs, cries and lives. This chair supports her as she supports us - completely.
I bought this chair second hand (I added the cushion). It reminds me of England…old English countryside…where my beloved Dad lived, and my most cherished childhood memories.
My grandmother’s bathroom chair from Singapore. I love the light play it creates.
Our throne for 2 queens, bought on fb marketplace from a castle in Scotland.
Good times in the garden with family and friends.
It’s called a hall chair. It’s old, maybe 1830s. I thought that calling it a hall chair was a bit restrictive so I put it in my bedroom and now I call it a bedroom chair. I throw clothes on it and I wonder what else other people did with it. Put it in their halls I guess.
My new best friend.
From: E. M Bates Ltd. Corn Merchants in Rugby. My grandfather Edgar Matthew Bates started the firm. My father took over when EM died in 1954. Miss Sylvester was the main stay of the office. In the holidays if parents were busy she would teach me how to use the adding machine and I’d help her add up figures. I’m just looking for a photo of her. My father was bipolar and we relied on her to keep the ship on an even keel when he needed treatment.
I love this little chair, found in the attic of Deb’s great grandmother who was born in 1885.
I sat in this chair for 4 years and near drank myself to death. When I sit there now I have a lot of hope my life has meaning.
Uncle Bert’s Chair dates from the 1930’s and has had several incarnations over the years, but I’m now restoring it back to the original colour that I remember from childhood.
Uncle Bert gave me my first liqueur chocolate when I was seven, and whenever I look at his chair I can see him sat in it. Precious memories.
This is my favourite chair because I share it with this cat, who is a friend from my neighbourhood I like to hang out with in my yard. It is a humble recycled rescued chair from the streets and it gives me pleasure when, in the warmer months, I can sit on it eating my vegan lunch, knowing that my Carbon and Blood footprints have been reduced.
I love my back protecting chair. Thanks to it, my body can feel free to do anything (relatively speaking!)
My father’s… remember this in his house on the Somerset levels, from where I retrieved it after he died. Reminds me of Van Gogh’s painting.
This is my cup of tea chair when I’m gardening. In lockdown I spent quite a lot of time sitting on this chair.
Like a lot of people I have so many chairs to choose from. Here is a lovely antique rush seated ladder back with arms I found in Blandford. I used it every day as my dining chair while we lived in Shaftesbury.
This chair! Because my Nana, my Mum, I and Luke all sat on it as children. We’ve had it reupholstered (it was falling apart!).
Solitude.
This chair is special as I started labour for my youngest child whilst sitting in it!
I upholstered this chair after retiring from a long career in the banking sector. I was ready to take a new path and fresh, exciting challenges. Animal print seemed adventurous, edgy, and outgoing - a world away from the restraints of financial life.
I tried to sell the chair, but there were no takers, But actually, I now feel relieved that it’s still mine. I think I was destined to live with it. It’s part of my transition to a life where I chose to ‘be myself’ and do my ‘own thing’ as opposed to bending over backwards to please others and work within strict constraints.
Why not.
A new recliner chair that helps me ease my back pain!
This is the one remaining of the four utility chairs my parents were allocated post war when furniture was in short supply. My mother never liked them because they didn’t match the table they had chosen.
Here’s a plain, old and uncomfortable chair, because plain old and uncomfortable chairs need love too.
This porters chair sat in the entrance hall of my grandparents house on the banks of The Clyde, and now sits in mine. It reminds me of visiting them as a child and I love it’s simple elegant beauty.
Saturday, Chelmsford, another gig, and a chair that I will never sit in!
My husband fulfilled a long-held desire to make a Windsor Chair. It’s wonky, rough, and heavy but is comfortable and a lot more authentic than many perfect chairs you see in antique shops.
The stool is not simply a family heirloom but is in fact THE family heirloom, made for my grandmother by her grandfather, Tommy Burton (1832-1910) - his initials are carved underneath.
As I thought about why this one I realised it is a symbol of being left behind and discarded. It was made by Martin’s uncle, a larger than life, slightly scary but very caring country doctor. The upholstery was woven by Martin’s Mum, a skilled and caring women of whom I was very fond. When Martin left he discarded the chair as he discarded our family life together.
This chair is full of memories and a feeling of continuity. Left to my husband by a long-departed friend, it has been part of my life for thirty years and because it is quite old, always makes me think of all the people who sat on it and the someone who cared enough to replace the original rush seat with a wooden one, so it could continue to be used
Currently lounging on this chair by a pool somewhere in Queensland. A great way to while away time whilst waiting for a clutch to be fixed! Nothing to do other than relax!
So the chair suits the need – getting out of a lovely pool, letting the water drip through the slats, drying off in the heat, whilst reading and generally relaxing! Suits the purpose.
My mother’s nursing chair, which I still have despite the fact that most of my problems emanate from my parents’ problems when it was in use for me over 70 years ago.
Bought this in a shop in Pokesdown … because I loved it’s unusual wiggly back struts and just overall design. Detail and generosity …
The daily reminder in my living room that soon I will be using it always, as my Muscular Dystrophy worsens. instead of occasionally. 86 yr.old Artist with M.D.
My Granny’s nursing chair. Pink velvet…so her……she wore her pink baby doll nightdress until the end of her days.
This was my great grandmother’s chair… not unusual, but I remember her in it with ger black buttoned boots. She was terrifying… but she left it to my father who left it to me…
This rocking chair was Nana Ange’s. It must be quite old. She used to rock me in it, as I did my children and now my grandchildren.
It welcomes me every morning while I drink my tea and is waiting to hold my bag and coat when I get back in at the end of the day.
The simple me.
When I worked for The Sunday Times, they headhunted Rafa Höhr, the best infographic artist in the world, to teach us how to produce interactive diagrams for the newspaper. I knelt beside him and his screen for hours, getting a bad back, trying to pick up some of his skills (I didn’t) until I invested in this 22cm high stool that at least saved my knees.
The VA wanted this chair for the 20th century gallery. We would not part with it!
I Inherited from a much-loved aunt. Old and battered but perfect for a snuggle with the dog.
This chair is probably from the dump. It’s very comfortable and I’m not suffering from any back pain despite the many hours I sit in it . It’s situated in the upstairs bit of our warehouse building in what is currently the HQ of my new venture, Onward. Great things are happening from this chair.
This is my studio chair. We have had it forever. It has been sat on for years and now I’m doing it up. As yet unfinished but looking after it again.
She makes my heart sing.
Not a particularly pretty chair but ‘oh so comfortable’ and generous.
A constant companion, whatever the weather, wherever we go!!
The chair would once have had a framed rush seat, replaced by a plywood insert long before our acquisition. It’s had many roles – kitchen chair, dining chair, side chair in the girls’ bedrooms, bathroom chair, somewhere to occupy a corner and stack Jane’s Vogue & Interiors Magazines, and guitar-playing chair when we had lots of music in the house. We probably gave it a new paint finish for each switch of roles, though, as you can see, it’s been a patinated while since the last one.
We brought this chair down from the loft months ago to see if it will be of any use for Yulia when she gets older. As we both love the form, we kept it in the bedroom and it became a very practical bedside chair, while waiting for Yulia to grow.
I feel like I had the weight of the world on me.
She saw the chair in Heals department store, saved up and bought it to nurse the child she so longed for. It remained as empty as her womb until the day she adopted Michael, and renamed him Tony Thomas after her dead husband.
I love this Thonet bent wood chair which was found on a skip… It still has its original Thonet label from Vienna which makes one feel connected to the past.
A big squishy armchair retrieved from the skip and recovered. Its hosted so many fireside conversations, some intimate and others raucous. Feels part of the family.
My friend Lee Burton made this chair and I love to sit in it when I whittle spoons at our club. It’s perfect for me.
This is the chair I’ve spent years having an after-lunch sleep.
I understand that this small chair was made by one of my ancestors. Possibly as an exercise while training as a cabinet maker.
I’m in Seville and saw this perfectly good chair, discarded by the bins. I’m sending it because when I saw it I remembered your project.
I am sentimental. I bought this as a feeding chair before my first daughter was born, and made matching curtains. I spent many, many hours in the chair, feeding, reading, dozing at all times of day and night, with both daughters. It moved house 3 times with us, and when it moved out of their bedroom, it came down to our living room and our lovely cat adopted it as his seat. Now he is gone, it has come to my new art studio, for the next chapter!!
A simple wooden stool perhaps, but my seat in a wonderful peaceful location, surrounded by nature inspired books and works of art by so many talented local craftspeople. A true haven of tranquillity appreciated by all who visit, and such an energising and fun place to work and meet like minded souls.
Perhaps they just get together in the evening.
My chair (or throne. Created for an outdoor production of Richard 111. 4 times larger than a person) it rained.
Meetings in Glasgow College of Art surpassed any others I have ever sat through - to occupy a Charles Rennie Mackintosh chair for an hour and a half beats anything. I think good decisions were made.
A wedding pair passed down over nearly 200 years of life partnerships. Two ancient trees made into two chairs linking many family trees. Which two will sit here after us?
(We have all the names : Edith & William to Careen & Lachlan to Hugh & Ian to David Lumsden to Westby & Gillian to Gillian & Nicholas)
Why this chair: it was on marketplace for free in my local area (Purbeck) immediately after your post - it had to be.
It is important to me because of where it is situated. I feel connected to the outside world by the window, opposite the door to greet visitors with my body comfortably supported in my own home.
This stool belonged to my children - they are now adults. Its function in the household has now changed. I am below average height and use the stool to enable me to reach up for things, mainly on high shelves in the kitchen. The few inches gained when standing on this stool are so very useful.
We bought this sculptural Wishbone chair thirty-five years ago when we were Yuppies. I’ve recently sold it and I’m not only mourning its loss but also the loss of that part of my life - not sure how many wishes came true.
The Captain’s Chair originally belonged to my grandfather and I inherited it and his desk which are now in my study.
We inherited it when we moved here in 1994 - it was in the garden, with legs already rusted.
It is extremely useful, comfortable, portable and easy to clean. We think it is based on a design by Robin Day. We hope to be able to pass it on. Here it is grazing…
In need of some attention.
Like its previous owner this chair is strong, practical, dependable, no airs or graces. It belonged to my Cornish Granny who died in 1999.
I rescued this industrial chair from a metal skip, minimal sum paid of course. My dad trained as a draughtsman and it makes me think of him at his drawing board. The previous owner ‘lindon’ is scratched onto the seat. A one day project to restore to glory.
This chair was in my granny’s house until she died in 1995, which was the same year Robbie and I needed to furnish a house. Since then it has acted as a physical support in the birth of my youngest child and become my studio chair and the favourite haunt of our lovely terrier Penny.
This porter’s chair sat in the entrance hall of my grandparents’ house on the banks of The Clyde, and now sits in mine. It reminds me of visiting them as a child and I love its simple elegant beauty.
The chair that’s heard 10,000 stories and been sat on by 10,000 bottoms!
I bought this lovely old nursing chair at auction and decided to take an upholstery class to cover it. I’ve used up cycled swatches of velvet to cover on lovely bright warm colours.
This is the teacher’s chair from the art room which I saved from demolition when the old horsa hut was replaced with a new art and science block at school. It was there from the1960’s so was used by quite a few art teachers before I started teaching there in1989. I didn’t get to sit in it a lot when I was teaching, but since it has been at home it has been well used both at my studio desk and at the head of the dining table. It’s very sturdy and comfortable!
Here
My favourite seat. I made the leather top and cut and tied the Hazel legs about 12 years ago. They have never been untied.
I love this chair, it’s vibrant, fun and makes me smile. Visitors always ask, can I sit on it? They too know it is special.
I went into the Italian Club restaurant today. For some reason they had stuck 2 tiny chairs next to pictures on the wall. I just love the idea of it.
A chair for someone else. I bought this from Ikea about 17 years ago and I’ve almost never sat in it. Its in the spare room now cos its nice for guests to have a chair. It was in my office for years and my students sat in it. V comfy.
This lady’s rocking chair, in desperate need of TLC following the movers’ heavy hand, belonged to my great grandmother; she lived during the American Civil War, and I can imagine her rocking in this chair as she read letters from her husband, a Union soldier, a prisoner of war in Andersonville prison,* where he later died.
*Andersonville was an infamous Confederate prison, described as the deadliest landscape of the Civil War by the National Park Service, which today manages the area as a National Historic Site.
This little wicker rocking chair is family. I loved this chair when I was a small child, and later my little son Matt rocked in it, as did both of his daughters. Their children will be next!
Contributors
Jonathon Elliot
Marie Stubbs
Jane Barnard
Jordi Casamitjana
Karen Wimhurst
Ruth Hughes
Maggie Mullen
Paul Williams
Victoria Garland
Sue Bennett
Bronwen Thrift
Vonnie Rook
Caroline Hughes
Daniel Young
Tom Hall
Joe Hashman
Vivian Rudd
Catherine Swaile
Annie Wilson
Linzi Gates
Jane Garbutt
Ruth Cohen
Sarah Humby
Holly Yates
Kate Pickard
Nancy Ginn
Gary Cook
Rachel Diment
Kirsten Pollock
Rob Adams
Diana Harris
Sue Smith
Jennifer Lord (2)
Kim Pragnell
Gillian Lewis
Antigone Neaum
Richard Gregory
D. Gillespie
Ilona Skladzien
Chris Dunford
Lin Walker
Lyn Pagano
Jenny Parker
Lorraine Cox
Laurence Pollard
David Handsford
Julia Marcus
Caroline Wetton
Bryan Pickard
Elizabeth Staveley
Kate Dalton
Mary Quinton-Edwards
David Grierson
Jacqueline Daniels
Amber Harrison
Grainne Reynolds
Christina Oates
Rita Cowie
Anthony Conolly
Andrea Jenkins
Hope Elletson
Carole Arnborg
Jackie Parker
Lizzie Sykes
Siân May
Carol Saunders
Sophie Firth
Jindra Jehu
Robbie Jehu
Meriel Parvin
Mike Bailey
Ursula Sunderland
Barry Kavanagh
Ann Wilson
Bridget DeCourcy
Sue Clifford
Phil Dunford
Kevin Harrison
Angela King
Anthony Conolly
Carrie Maison
Stephen Bithell
Ruth Gilbert
Sue Ashby
Jeanette•Hardiman
Heather Crump
Jane Colquhoun
Angela Wingfield
Gabrielle Bill
Fiona Chapman
Angela de Groot
Margaret Wyman
Helen Hashman
Jane Shepherd
V. Ellis
Deborah Ezekiel
Why this chair?
This book is a collaboration.
Using social media, emails, and word of mouth, I invited people to send me an image and answer the question: Why this chair?
This book documents the response to that question.