Published June 23, 2005

“We have introduced the humble Thonet chair of steamed wood, certainly the most common as well as the least costly of chairs. And we believe that this chair... possesses nobility.”

So wrote famed architect Le Corbusier of the elegant “Writing Desk Chair No. 9,” designed in 1902 and manufactured by Thonet Brothers. A modern reproduction of the Thonet chair, as well as distinctive chairs from ancient times to the present, is currently on display at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art’s “Art of the Chair” exhibit, which runs through August 14th.

Nobility is only one characteristic of the chairs on display; grandeur, eccentricity and bombast are some others.

From the stately Ming Dynasty armchair to Frank Gehry’s whimsical “Wiggle” and “Slice” chairs made from corrugated cardboard, the exhibit cris-crosses continents, time frames, and tastes.

A pair of smart-looking French chairs boast solid seat-backs that fold down like cigar box tops. A wood and Naugahyde “Etruscan” chair has rear legs that resemble those of a dog.

The orange-cushioned dining chair from Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Honeycomb House” in Stanford, CA, is something of an architectural achievement itself.

A quote from Le Corbusier proclaims his 1928 chaise lounge, made from tubular steel, wood, and pony skin, to be “a machine for relaxing” (as long as you’re not a pony, one supposes).

Juxtapose this with the regal 1905 replica of Princess Sitamun’s chair, one of four exact replicas created by the British Museum after the discovery of her ancient Egyptian tomb.

The chairs are on loan from a variety of collections, notably the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco at the Legion of Honor and the DeYoung Museum, as well as many private collections.

Sarah Orton, an office intern at the museum, noted that the exhibit has garnered an unusual amount of interest from visitors.

“Art is expanding out of the normal boundaries you keep them in,” Orton said. “You’re taking chairs and turning them into artwork.”