THE
SEAT OF POWER
 |
| Ramses II seated on a
cubical throne. |
A chair, in the simplest definition, is
a piece of furniture with a raised platform used to sit on. Later added in the
description is the backrest, the armrests and the three or four legs. Based on
these accounts, the earliest historical proof of the existence of such a
furniture dates back to ancient Egypt and Greece (c. 2500 B.C.–2000 B.C.), and to
the earliest dynasties in China (c. 2100 B.C.–1100 B.C.). Its invention
predates its own name. The word “chair” as derived from the Old French chaiere, which means “seat” or “throne,”
was conceived during the 12th century.
Game
of Thrones
 |
| An ancient Chinese
stone stool. |
Before the “true” chair was introduced
to mankind, people used to sit on the ground or to whatever piece of solid
matter – a rock or fallen tree trunk – they could rest their buttocks, which at
the beginning didn’t have a name but later was simply known as a “stool.”
The word “stool” came from the Old
English stol, meaning a “seat for one
person, which in turn was derived from the Proto-German stola, meaning “seat.” Interestingly, the Old English cynestol was originally used to mean
“royal seat” or “throne.”
Consequently man invented all sorts of
improvements to make him more comfortable while sitting. A man has a back so
his seat should also have a backrest; arms so it should have armrests; limbs so
it should have legs, and so on.
By the 12th century, when the word
“chair” was adopted into the English language through the Old French chaiere, meaning “throne,” the word
stool was relegated to mean “small seat without arms or backs.” By the 1530s,
it declined further into “bowel movement.”
The advent of civilization which is also
the advent of governance or the power to rule made the “chair” a symbol of
authority and privilege. The mere resting place of man’s buttocks – the salumpuwit in the Tagalog vernacular –
became the seat of his power. It maybe urban legend, but there’s a saying,
“From where the Viking farts, there wields his power.”
 |
Cleopatra sitting
on
her elaborated throne. |
The Old French Chaiere evolved into the Modern French chaire, and now not only means “throne” but also “pulpit” as it is equated
with the Latin cathedra, meaning
“easy chair” (principally used by women), but was derived from ecclesia cathedralis, which translated
to “church of a bishop’s seat.”
In ancient Egypt, chairs appear to have
been of eloquent richness and splendor. Fashioned of ebony and ivory, or of
carved and gilded wood, they were covered with expensive materials, magnificent
patterns and supported upon representations of the legs of great beasts or the
figures of captives. Generally speaking, the higher ranked an individual was,
the taller and more splendid was the chair he sat on and the greater the honor
given to him. In most household, only the head of the family sits on a chair.
 |
| Emperor Taizu sitting
on his cushioned and gilded throne. |
 |
| A more elaborate
throne during the later Chinese dynasty era. |
Indeed, as the simple chair was
reinvented, it became a “throne” onto which emperors, kings, pharaohs, chieftains, popes,
governors and all people in authority wield their power. It also became the
symbol of nobility and the privilege of the royalties. Later, however, as
social and communal revolutions change the face of the world, so did the
utility of the chair becomes public concession.
 |
| The Throne of
Maximian. |
By the 16th century, the chair became as
common as the books people read while seated on its comfort, and by the 18th
century, more or less all of earth’s inhabitants have seen and used a chair or
two. It became a furniture for convenience.
Almost all nationalities have a similar
history as to how their own version of the chair came to be and how it evolved.
Perhaps this can be explained by a mixture of sociology and anatomy. Humans of
whatever race or nationality are basically gregarious in nature. They love to
mingle and talk, and they always enjoy sitting together while they do this. On
the other hand, human anatomy is well suited for sitting. Have you ever wonder
why the largest muscle – Gluteus maximus
– in the human body is located on his buttocks?
Hot
Seat
 |
| Amarna Period tablet
showing Akhenaten and Nefertiti sitting on a leisure stool. |
The chair is a simple invention known
since antiquity, although for many centuries it was an emblem of state and
dignity rather than an article of ordinary use. In fact, it was not until the
16th century that it became common anywhere. Until then the chest, the stool
and the bench were the ordinary seats of everyday life, and “the number of
chairs which have survived from an earlier date is exceedingly limited; most
examples are of ecclesiastical or seigniorial origin.”
From the Parthenon frieze: Poseidon, Apollo and Artemis sitting
on a square stool with cylindrical legs.
 |
| The Seat of Dagobert. |
Although it is not known exactly who invented the first chair and where in the world it was first made. Looking back to ancient times, we can see remnants and relics all over the world: The leisure stools of Akhenaten (c. 1361 B.C.-1334 B.C.) and Nefertiti (c. 1370 B.C.-1330 B.C.) depicted in an Amarna Period tablet (14th century B.C.); the statues of Ramses II (c. 1303 B.C.-1213 B.C.) near the Luxor Temple in Egypt depicting the pharaoh sitting on a cubelike throne without armrest (13th century B.C.); the Parthenon Frieze sculpted under the supervision of Phidias (c. 480 B.C.-430 B.C.), where Poseidon, Apollo and Artemis were shown sitting on square seats with rounded legs (5th century B.C.); the Throne of Maximian (499-556) in the Cathedral of Ravenna made of carved wood and ivory portraying figures of Catholic saints and scenes (A.D. 550); the Seat of Dagobert in Louve, France, made by Eligius of Aquitaine (588-660) of cast bronze and partially gilt, and supported by four legs chiseled in the form of leopard’s head on each corner of the seat and terminating as the animal’s foot (A.D. 630); the court portrait of Taizu (927-976), founder and first emperor of the Song Dynasty, sitting on a wide cushion throne with the added footrest (A.D. 960).
The
Luklukan
 |
The seated Bul-Ul,
Ifugao
guardian spirits of rice crops. |
Some historians say that the first chair
in the Philippines was brought by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 and he gave it to
Rajah Humabon of Cebu as a token of friendship. This is more of a historical
distortion. While it is true that most of the early natives of the archipelago,
like their Asian neighbors, sit on the floor when they eat during those times,
the maharlikas or royalties of the time, the datus, lakans and rajahs, also
like their Asian neighbors, have a “seat of authority,” the ancient ancestors
of the Filipino royalties have the luklukan
from which they administer their reign upon their subjects. This is hundreds of
years before Magellan was even born.
We should also remember that the “true”
chairs historically appeared much earlier in China, Egypt, Middle East and Asia
Minor before the idea was brought to Europe, and particularly in Spain. Chinese
and Middle Eastern influences in early Filipino furnitures were already
existing before the Spaniards came to our shore.
Looking at the word silya, we accept this as a Spanish heritage, from silla, the meaning of which can both
represent “seat” or “chair.” The word, however, like bangko (also of Spanish origin, from banco, meaning “bench”), pertains in the local parlance more
specifically to a stool or a seat without backrest and armrests and not to a
“true” chair. The word upuan (from
the rootword upo and the prefix an), on the other hand, is a synonymous
Tagalog word already existing before the arrival of Magellan in the
Philippines. The word, however, is a general term, synonymous with the English
“seat” without any specific description as to backrest and armrests. Hench, a
stool, a chair or a bench or sofa can be called upuan in Tagalog. Still another word is likmuan (from the rootword likmo,
meaning “place of comfort or bliss”), which is more of a poetic assertion of a
“blissful place” where one could rest comfortably. The best equivalent of the
Filipino likmuan in English, with
respect to a kind of seat, is probably the “loveseat.” Although likmuan is around three centuries older
in etymology than the very recent English term, which probably appeared around
the Victorian Era. Of course who can miss the very obvious salumpuwit – the “buttocks supporter” – which is of a fairly recent
concoction.
 |
Hara-Siri sitting on her throne
(fom Gregorio C. Coching's komiks novel of the same title
published in Tagalog Klasiks, May 6 - August 26, 1960).
|
Going back to the word luklukan. When a datu is chosen to lead
his tribe, he is said to be blessed by Kabunyian (Bathala or Laon in other
dialects) or a diwata, through the
intercession of the babaylan
(priestess), and is seated in the luklukan,
an elevated “chair” with backrest and armrests made of bamboo or hardwood gilt
in gold and resting on top of two long sturdy poles. The luklukan is said to represent the kandungan or lap of a guiding diwata
(or anito) in a sitting position with
her hands and arms open above her thighs, hence the backrest and armrests (In
old Tagalog, luklok and luklukan have an unmistakable affinity
with kandong and kandungan). After the ceremony, the datu sits on the luklukan and it is raised and carried by
his slaves around his balangay, banwa, ili or sakop to be
praised by his people. Then the luklukan
is finally rested on the porch of the datu’s balay until the time of his successor, who would choose to continue
using it or burn it and ask that it be replaced.
The word luklukan itself maybe older than the current etymology dating of
12th to 13th century. It came from the rootword luklok, which means “put in a blessed place” or “sit in a place of
honor.” As such, the word iluklok
translates to putting a person to a position of privilege or honor – “to
consecrate” or “to enthrone.” This maybe akin to the Indo-Sanskrit duduk or dukduk, which means “throne” or “enthrone,” a word dating back to
the Sri-Vijayan empire, which was the dominant power in south and southeast
Asia around the 7th to the 11th century.
Even
Chairs Evolved
 |
| An ancient Chinese
high chair. |
Early chairs were made of carved wood,
were covered with cloth or leather and much lower than today’s chairs, only
less than a foot high. It was in China that the higher chair first appeared
and, by the turn of the 13th century, a vast majority of Chinese houses had a
modified stool or chair to seat upon.
In Europe, owing in great measure to the
Renaissance, the chair ceased to be a privilege of the ruling class, and became
a standard item of furniture for anyone who could afford to buy it. Once the
idea of privilege faded, the chair rapidly came into general use. Its design
began to change every few years to reflect the fashions of the time.
By the 1830s, American households
usually have a chair provided for every family member to sit down to dinner.
Factory-manufactured “fancy chairs” allowed families to purchase complete sets
including the dining table. With the Industrial Revolution, chairs became much
more available.
 |
| Examples of
modern/fairly recent chair designs. |
New technology became the tool in the
manufactured of the chairs of the 20th century. Chairs made of metals, plastics,
laminated woods and polymers came into existence. Interior designers,
architects and engineers continuously reinvent the aesthetics and ergonomics of
the “buttocks supporter” taking into consideration not only the fashion,
artistry and comfort of use, but also economy, durability and mechanical
design.
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