BESESSEN - Die geheime Kunst des Polsterns

Upholstered pieces of furniture are familiar to all of us as more or less constant companions of everyday life. Upholstery is comfortable, it conveys security and promises comfort, it has a specific design, asserts or creates status and tells a (hi)story.

We rarely consider its interior. At the same time, a view into the hidden content of chairs and armchairs is a journey into secrets, into lashed and sprung constructions that prove to be unknown masterpieces of craftsmanship. Deep-Seated. The Secret Art of Upholstery explores furniture and its interiors and explains why upholstery is always also a part of cultural and social history.

With contributions by Thomas Andersch, Maximilian Busch, Cordula Fink, Thomas Rudi, Stefanie Seeberg, Thomas Schriefers, Xenia Schürmann, and a foreword by Olaf Thormann.

Text in English and German.

Preface / Olaf Thormann Introduction / Thomas Schriefers Renaissance – Baroque – Rococo / Thomas Schriefers Tools and springs / Thomas Schriefers The chamber horse – Sprung fitness equipment of the eighteenth century / Cordula Fink Variations of Classicism / Xenia Schürmann Upholstery of a Classicist chair / Thomas Schriefers Dwelling in the first third of the nineteenth century / Thomas Rudi Historicism and Jugendstil / Thomas Schriefers Different demands – New ideas / Thomas Schriefers With brilliant effect – A seating group designed by Ernst Max Jahn in 1928 / Thomas Andersch Conventions / Thomas Schriefers After 1945 / Thomas Schriefers Rethinking / Thomas Schriefers Listening, seeing, touching, sitting / Thomas Schriefers 500 years of furnishing textiles for upholstered furniture / Stefanie Seeberg Delicate artworks – Braids and tassels / Stefanie Seeberg Upholstering arm- and backrests / Maximilian Busch Cushions / Maximilian Busch Glossary: Technical terms, materials, techniques Objects and images Remarks Bibliography List of illustrations Imprint