Getting Smart: History Of Chaise Lounge Furniture

Chaise lounge chairs – only by reading the name gives us the feeling of comfortability and softness. Whether outdoor chaise lounge chairs, indoor chaise lounge chairs or chaise lounge chairs for bedroom they can all give us the same comfort, relaxation and soft feeling to the touch. And, while it seems like a modern piece of furniture, it is not.

Chaise lounge chairs are everything, but not a modern piece of furniture. And, the first thing we all need to know about them is that we are mispronouncing and misspelling the term. The correct term is the “chaise longue” and is pronounced as shAz-lo[ng], which is a French word for “long chair.”

The Beginnings

Chaise lounge chairs have a long history. They first appearance is in Egypt and represents a combination of a chair and a day bed. The first examples of these types of chairs come from excavated tombs and date back to 3100 BC.

At that time, the regular beds of Egyptians were looking almost the same as our modern day beds. However, there were variations of these early chaise lounges, so some of them would slant slightly downward. The have had also built-in wooden headrests or other materials imitating pillows, so a real pillow was not a necessity.

Besides in Egypt, the chaise lounge chairs has also been found in ancient Mesopotamian lands like Sumer, Babylon and Assyria, where they were used in everyday situations in rich and royal families. During royal banquets, there were high-standing versions of these chairs and they were used instead of chairs.

Ancient Greeks were also not an exception when it comes to the use of chaise lounges. Chaise lounges were used during large parties called a symposium, held mainly to introduce young men into adulthood. The Greeks called chaise lounges “kline.” and just like the ancient Mesopotamians, they used chaise lounges instead of regular chairs while eating. Usually, two people were on one kline, which was elevated higher than the level of the table.

Romans used chaise lounge chairs for both sleeping at night and relaxing during the day They also used the chaise lounges for banquets. During these banquets, people usually sat three to each lounge.

Chaise lounges have also found a use in China. The first time a chaise lounge was used in China was by the Ming Dynasty in 1368, and it is still popular. The Chinese were the first who used these chaise in the garden where one could enjoy in the nature and fresh air while relaxing.

On the other side of the world, the Olmec's also used their kind of version of the chaise lounge from 1300 BC to 400 BC.

The first modern chaise lounge version was popularized in 16th century in France. The main difference is that the modern version was designed for people lying on their backs instead of on their stomach or side. It was made out of wooden slats with a reclining back, but there are also some versions made from rattan or cane in a woven pattern.

Through the years, chaise lounge chairs were created from a variety of different materials, like plastic and metal tubes.  

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