Winging It in Furniture Design

Alistair Cooke held forth from a tufted red leather one every Sunday night as he introduced Masterpiece Theatre . Alistair Cookie (aka Cookie Monster) held forth from a mustard velvet one as he introduced Monsterpiece Theatre . James Bond supervillain
Ernst Stavro Blofeld wreaked havoc seated in his sleek, black leather swiveling one.

It has enveloped negotiating heads of state, insured privacy for first-class jetsetters, coddled nursing mothers in the Orkney Islands, and challenged the imaginations of prominent architects, designers, filmmakers, and set designers. It has been modernized, bastardized, caned, framed, upholstered, trimmed, and mechanized. It swivels, it reclines, it adjusts. It does everything but take flight.

The wing chair.

You can buy one at Walmart for under $200 or go bespoke for $10,000 from George Smith. This classic chair, in all its iterations and permutations, has been in our palaces, homes, clubs, and offices for centuries, imparting comfort, gravitas, and adaptable design. It’s gone from the fireside to a desk to a dining room. No matter where it ends up or how it is used, the wing chair retains its personality and presence. And there is a wing chair for everyone.

Originally contrived as a utilitarian necessity in 1600s England and Scotland, a typical chair sprouted “wings”—also called “ears” or “saddle cheeks”—to protect its occupant from drafts as well as to capture the heat from the hearth. One of the earliest is the Scottish Orkney Chair, which to this day is a favorite accent piece of designer Sandra Morgan.

“It’s a traditional chair made of wood and oat straw,” she says. “The wings originally embraced the back and fended off drafts from nursing mothers and their babies. The antique ones are quite coveted.” She points out that this early form adds “texture” and “attitude” to its surroundings.

The iconic Queen Anne wing chair (or wingback chair) dates to 1720; it is characterized by long, elegant cabriolet legs and upholstery. Queen Anne had died by then, but her style endured. The French counterpart, known as a bergère, dates to 1760 (Louis XVI) and is typically wood framed and upholstered.

From then on, it was open season on the wing chair. Chippendale straightened out the legs, Hepplewhite lowered the seat. Charles and Ray Eames, Philippe Starck, and Vladimir Kagan all tinkered with the basic form; Kagan’s Baroness Throne Chair was recently on 1stDibs for $28,500. They straightened the lines, they added curves, they created angles; some took away the legs.

“The Eames chair has a pedestal base—no legs!” marvels Gregory Allan Ness of Coastal Interiors. He and partner Crystal Lemley have installed the 1956 design in a home office. The Galapagos Iconic Upholstered Chair 900 by Adriana Hoyos is a rattan and upholstered combo that swivels, adding an unexpected modern island sensibility that the designers favor in loggias, porches, and living rooms. Explains Ness, “This chair is completely open, but the beauty and sophistication of the wingback persists.”

When there are legs, they can be acrylic, metal, painted, or completely disguised by a slipcover for an instant update. “The legs can change everything, just like a person,” laughs Morgan. Speaking of people, Morgan likes to play with the scale of her clients’ wing chairs, particularly at the ends of the dining room table: a larger designated as “host” and smaller “hostess” chairs, with different fabrics inside and out.

Beth Read Pusser, owner of Oodles of Wallpaper, stresses the importance of symmetry in wing chair placement, with or without a fireplace. “They still need to flank something because of their height—usually 42 inches tall—if not a fireplace, then bookshelves, or the dining room table,” she says.

And if you want to keep that cozy, enveloped feeling when it’s time to retire, says Pusser, “They’re also making wing beds.”