You’ve got to hand it to the rocking chair, just like a decades-past-his-prime frontman who refuses to call it a farewell tour, the rocking chair just keeps on, well, rocking. Originating in the 18th Century, the rocking chair was conceived as a less juvenile adaptation of the cradle and the rocking horse. Its rhythmic movement made it a fine companion not just for newborns, but geriatrics looking to while away the day in a state that could justifiably be called “active.” Rocking chairs could have retired on those laurels alone, but as the demand for melded form and function grew into a worldwide phenomenon in the 20th Century, the rocking chair gained new momentum and underwent a rebel revamp of sorts.
The 1950 and 60s saw style savants like Hans Wenger, Ray and Charles Eames, and Charles Hollis Jones all taking cracks at the rocker, creating ergonomic perches that stylistically challenged the rocking chairs’ fusty connotations. If you’ve been considering a rocking chair to drum up some drama but remain puzzled about which ones tread super-chic over superannuated, we’ve rounded up four iconic styles that are worth “rocking” out of your way for.
Shaker Rockers
The Scoop: In the 19th Century, Shakers superimposed their primitive-style craftsmanship on the rocking chair. The result was the Shaker rocking chair—a Windsor-style chair with a plain wooden frame accentuated by a ladder back. Although simplistic, this venerable rocker alludes to more avant-garde pastures thanks to its tall back which is often extended to the point of evoking gothic grandeur.
Notables Who Rocked ‘Em: John F. Kennedy. In 1926, the P&P Chair Company created a Shaker-style rocking chair of decidedly Danish Modern clout. Equipped with an attractive steam-curved headrest and a woven rattan back, the rocking chair caught the eye of JFK’s physician, Janet Travell, who prescribed the rocker to the 35th POTUS as an antidote to back pain. JFK was reportedly so enamored with the rocker that he implanted it in the Oval Office and even toted it along on Air Force One on occasion. After photos surfaced of JFK in the chair, P&P was inundated with calls from people who wanted to score a “Kennedy Rocker” of their own.
Love It? Keep an Eye Out For: George Nakashima Rocking Chairs. In the 1970s, George Nakashima—a self-dubbed “Japanese Shaker”—teed up his own version of a Windsor-inspired rocking chair out of superbly-planed walnut and poplar. Featuring an oversized, spindle slat back and a seat with race car-rivaling contours, the rocker came in three variations, including a two-arm, single-arm, and armless version.
Bentwood Rockers
The Scoop: As far as liberated rockers go, few rival woodworker Michael Thonet’s swooping Bentwood rocking chairs. A by-product of the bentwood technology Thonet developed in the late 19th Century that manipulated wet beechwood into curvaceous ellipse, Thonet fashioned two swooping bands to function as the rocking chair’s arms and legs. As the Thonet brand aged, Thonet rocking chairs’ iconic swoops became increasingly intricate. Admirers of the brand take note—the elaborateness of a Thonet rocker’s swoop can indicate its age, with more simple treads dating to more quondam times.
Notables Who Rocked ‘Em: Pablo Picasso. Archival photos of Picasso show that his Bentwood rocker was a stalwart in his studio—so much so that it was even incorporated into a handful of his portraits. Most notably, the Thonet rocker makes an appearance in his aptly-titled, Femme dans un rocking-chair.
Love It? Keep an Eye Out For: Franco Albini Rocking Chairs. Renowned for his canny furniture designs that tightrope between suspension and support, designer Franco Albini cued up a bent rattan rocking chair inspired by the Thonet rocking chair in the early 20th Century. Featuring tear-shaped rocker treads that also function as the chairs’ arms and bamboo pole construction, the overall effect could be summed up as Bahamas-bound bohemian goes bourgeois.
Modernist Rocking Chairs
The Scoop: When modernist movements like Bauhaus began match-making high-end design with ergonomics in the 1930s and 1940s, the modest rocking chair got a new lease on life. In particular, Danish Modernists, like Ib Kofod-Larsen and Hans Wegner took to crafting basic, body-cradling designs that hawked style and comfort in equal amounts. Modernist rocking chairs aren’t exactly the chairs you dream about lazing about in, but rather mechanical marvels that will procure sculptural splendor in any space.
Notables Who Rocked ‘Em: Juliane Moore. In testament to their timeless appeal, modernist rocking chairs have earned an ardent audience of contemporary fans, including actress Julianne Moore. In Julianne’s cozy-cool New York townhouse, an Ib Kofod-Larsen Penguin Rocker resides in the living room, working to tie together Julianne’s loves of graceful modernity and unabashed comfort.
Love It? Keep an Eye Out For Jens Risom Rocking Chairs. In 2009, the legendary Modernist Jens Risom released an upholstered, anvil-backed rocker paying homage to classic Danish design principles. With its fully upholstered seat and back, slight lean, and classic button-tufting, the Risom rocker gives any recliner a run for its money.
Sculptural Rockers
The Scoop: The 1950s through 1970s saw designers incorporating cutting-edge materials into rocking chairs such as plastic, Lucite, and fiberglass. Where wood inhibited, these manmade materials allowed for sinuous, gravity-defying shapes that not even molded plywood could replicate. Among the most arch attributes of plastic was its ability to be contoured to the body. Rocking chairs like the Eames rocker showcase a molded bucket seat that acts almost like a supportive cask for the body.
Notables Who Rocked ‘Em: Moms-to-be and their mini modernists. From 1968 to 1984, Herman Miller gifted all of its expectant employees Eames Molded Plastic rockers. Impending parents were encouraged to personalize their rocker by selecting a unique-to-them fabric and shell combo. Following the arrival of the mini modernist, a placard with their name and birthdate was affixed to the back.
Love It? Keep an Eye Out For: Charles Hollis Jones Rocking Chairs. The terms rocking chair and wildly ambitious aren’t normally bedfellows, but Los Angeles-based designer Charles Hollis Jones expertly oversaw the closing of that gap. Constructed of upholstery and Lucite, CHJ rockers consist of a padded seat held aloft by two Lucite oval treads that also serve as the chairs’ arms. In the right light, the transparent treads can give the illusion that the chair’s occupant is floating, lending this plastic rocking chair the ultimate air of futuristic cool.
Lead photo by Brad Knipstein