The antique Morris chair is a sought after style of chair. Padded armrests and detachable cushions on the seat and seat back characterize the antique Morris chair. Typically, the Morris chair has a wood frame, and turning spindles. Morris & Company originally produced this type of chair in 1866.
William Morris founded Morris & Company. William Morris (1834 – 1896) was an English writer, printer and painter. He believed that beauty could be found in utility. Morris & Co. was originally created to make furniture, wallpaper, stained glass, carvings, and fabric. Although William Morris did not originally design the Morris chair it was produced by Morris & Co. William Morris along with Morris & Co. pioneered a type of light, functional furniture that was designed in a more simplistic style. He purposely simplified the look of the Morris chair to get away from the heavily decorated and mass produced styles that had recently become so popular.
The Morris chair is considered the Grandfather of recliners. In the United States, they were typically made of solid oak with a back that reclined. The backs were adjustable to four angles. The angles were adjusted by a bar placed into one of four pairs of notches behind the rear legs. This allowed for a person to lounge in a reclined position. William Morris designed several patterns for wallpaper and fabric, some of the designs of fabric can be seen on his design and productions. Typically either leather or a heavily patterned brocade type fabric in an Acanthus leaf style covered antique Morris chairs. Morris & Co. designed several styles of fabric using the Acanthus leaf motif. Currently Sanderson & Company, an English company, owns the rights to most of Morris’s fabric designs.
The basic definition of a Morris chair according to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language is, “A large easy chair with arms, an adjustable back, and removable cushions”. This broad description encompasses the many different styles that have evolved from the antique Morris chair to the modern day styling of the Stickley or Mission type of Morris chair. Regardless of the type you seek, the Morris chair will add style to any room while becoming a comfortable place for you and your family to sit, while providing the beauty to the room like no other chair can do.
The simple inherent design being centered on simplicity causes it to become a work of art as well as extremely comfortable. The quest for finding your next perfect addition to your collection can often times be an enjoyable experience. This adventure in searching for your next addition can introduce you to people, places and experiences that you would have never taken in if you had not been on a collector’s mission. Some times the story behind how you acquired an item is just as interesting as the history of the item.
Because of the rare occurrence of you stumbling across your perfect antique treasure, the thought of whether to purchase or not must be made before you leave the presence of your treasure. The simple facts are that if this treasure is rare, will you ever happen across another that is in better condition or a better price? These are quick and decisive decisions all collectors of antiques must make each and every time they review a specimen that they are interested in acquiring for their collection. As you build your own collection and it grows, you also grow with it. The more pieces you have in your collection, the more information and experience you will have in judging the next pieces to add to you collection. After you have acquired the first initial pieces, you will generally have a good idea on what each item is worth and in what condition its in. This information will help you to make the decision on whether or not the current piece you are examining is worth adding to you collection.
