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| Accession # | 2011.80 |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Rudolph Ackermann |
| Title | "Metamorphic Library Chair", from "Repository of Arts, Literature, Fashions Etc.." Plate 29 (volume I, July 1811) |
| Date | 1811 |
| Medium | Printed paper and watercolor |
| Dimensions | Other: 9 1/4 x 5 1/8 in. (23.5 x 13 cm) |
| Credit Line | Gift of H. Blairman & Sons Ltd. |
| Location | Visible Storage: Case 3, Shelf C (Special Exhibition) |
| Description | Printed double image of: above, a Klismos style armchair with light blue cushion; below, the same chair folded over backwards to become a step ladder with four light-blue colored steps. At top proper left corner printed in black: "Plate 3 Vol 6" At bottom center printed in black: "METAMORPHIC LIBRARY CHAIR/ No. 31 of R. ACKERMANN'S REPOSITORY of ARTS etc. Pub. July 1 1811, at 101 Strand LONDON" |
Curatorial Remarks: Morgan & Sanders’s metamorphic library chair established the basic mechanical design for this form. Their chair was rendered in the then-fashionable Neoclassical, or Regency, style, characterized by a concave back, scrolling arms, and curved, saber-shaped legs. The form of Eliaers’s library step-chair derives directly from this English example of forty years earlier.
