Famous
French mime
Marcel Marceau
interprets

A
STORY
OF
CHAIRS

As the pictures on these pages show, chairs are signs of the times. Designers have always faced a tantalizing challenge in creating a place to sit that is aesthetic as well as practical. The clothes and the architecture of the period, the way people live—all have a bearing on how a person should be properly seated. Jane Austen, for instance, would look as ludicrous and feel as uncomfortable in a sling chair as a girl in shorts sprawled on a Renaissance throne.

The proper relationship between people and chairs was depicted recently for Look by Marcel Marceau. On a visit to America, the famous French mime enacted a series of tableaux with chairs, ancient and modern. Using gestures and poses, he captured the spirit of the period in which each chair was designed. At right, he reacts to chairs of the past. On the following two pages, he takes his cue from six trend-setting chairs of today.

Imperial Romans sat on stools, forerunners of chairs.

Renaissance rulers reposed regally in thronelike seats.

Courtiers of Louis XVI preferred tapestried elegance.

Queen Anne's England huddled in upholstered shelters.

PRODUCED BY JOHN PETER
PHOTOGRAPHED BY MICHAEL A. VACCARO

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