The WILLIAM MORRIS CHAIR

Our Patrons brought in their Antique William Morris Style Chair to be reupholstered.
I wondered - was that the famous English William Morris-? The Poet, Painter, Social Reformer
Textile Designer-? YES, it was the one whose work I had always admired, but I had not known that He had a major part in designing the first Recliner Chair, in 1866.

The Chair has a high back and arm rests, and can be used like any arm chair in it's upright position. The signature feature of the chair though, is it's reclining back, which was revolutionary at the time. It's considered the predecessor of all modern reclining chairs .

This Chair was very popular during the Victorian Era in England, but later adapted into the Classic Mission and Arts & Crafts design movements which emphasized craftsmanship, rather than factory produced work. Their designs featured hand-dyed and woven fabrics and hand-carved wood.

The fabric chosen for the chair pictured above, was quite "Morris"-like in style with a velvet texture and was so agreeable to work with - the end results looked quite inviting and the chair was actually very comfortable.
It felt just great to help give new life to such a beautiful and solidly built Antique Chair-!