1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to chairs having a seat, legs and a back, and more particularly to a cafe chair that is multi-functional, making it possible for a seated occupant to use the chair in various modes.
2. Status of Prior Art
The term cafe refers to a coffee house, an informal restaurant or bar. But whether a cafe dispenses coffee, cocktails or sandwiches, it must be furnished by chairs whose appearance and function lend themselves to use in the environment of a cafe. The term cafe chair therefore refers to a chair especially suitable for cafes.
A cafe has no formal arrangement of chairs and tables, for these are deployed to suit changing circumstances. Hence a cafe chair must be light weight and readily movable as well as sturdy. And it must be capable of accommodating itself to the particular use to which it is put by its occupant.
In contradistinction, a dining room chair need not be light weight, nor does it have to be comfortable at any position assumed by its occupant other than the position he takes when seated before a dining room table. This table has a predetermined position in a dining room, and a dining room chair has only one function which is to seat its occupant to face the table.
The appearance and function of a cafe chair are governed by the decor of the cafe in which it is placed. The aesthetics of a cafe and that of its cafe chairs together determine to a significant degree whether a prospective client will be induced to enter the cafe. Thus a cafe whose chairs look like kitchen chairs and whose interior is barn-like will not attract patrons.
In an outdoor cafe, it is mainly the cafe chairs that impart a distinctive character to the cafe. Hence the appearance of these chairs is a major factor in attracting customers.
However, a cafe chair must not only be aesthetically pleasing, but it must also be capable of accommodating the various activities carried out by its occupant in the course of his stay at the cafe. A cafe is not a fast food establishment, for the typical patron tends to linger and in some instances may spend several hours at the cafe. Hence the cafe chair occupied by the patron plays an important role during this stay.
Thus in the course of a stay at a cafe, the occupant of a cafe chair may wish to change his position to observe other people within the cafe or those sauntering in the outside street. And he may wish to engage in conversation a person at a nearby table without leaving his chair. Or he may wish to tilt back the chair so as to address a person standing before him, or as a form of exercise. And at other times the occupant may wish to reverse his position on the chair so that he faces the back of the chair in order to carry out a conversation with a person behind him.
An ideal cafe chair must therefore not only be strong and durable, but it must also be capable of functioning in various modes of operation, such as those described above.
And not only must the cafe chair be light in weight and readily movable, but must also be aesthetically pleasing, thereby welcoming its occupant.
Cafes have a long heritage, for those in Paris, London and Vienna trace their history back to the Middle Ages. Coffee houses are now endemic in the United States, each of the major American cities having hundreds of such houses. And cafe bars continue to proliferate.
In the course of time, many species of cafe chairs have been developed, some now having the status of classics, among which are the Rattan French cafe chair in which bamboo rods are combined with woven rattan, and the Thonet Bentwood chair based on the patented Thonet process for steaming and bending wood. Both of these classic chairs are highly attractive, light weight and easily movable.
But classic cafe chairs as well as others in common use are somewhat are limited in regard to the various ways in which they can be put to use. Thus the Thonet chair which has side arms cannot be used in a reverse mode with its occupant facing backwards.
Nor can many other four legged cafe chairs be comfortably used in a reverse mode, for while in a direct mode, the occupant's legs are in front of the chair and can be close together, in the reverse mode the structure of the chair may be such that the occupant's legs are then uncomfortably far apart and stick out to create a hazard in a crowded cafe.
A cafe chair in accordance with the invention has a sculptured back which suggests a primitive fertility figure. Of prior art interest therefore is Cycladic art originating in the bronze age in the Aegean Cycladic islands. This art takes the form of fertility figures that are frontal and geometric in style.
A typical Cycladic figure is a flat form contoured to define an enlarged ovoid head merging with a body region having outwardly swelling hips from which extend a spaced pair of legs. Similar fertility figures are found in primitive African art and in other cultures. These figures have greatly influenced modern artists, such as Picasso, some of whose paintings and sculptures are reflective of Cycladic or African art.