Chair (sculpture) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Chair
The Big Chair
Artist	Bassett Furniture
Year	1959 (1959)
Type	sculpture
Dimensions	590 cm × 370 cm (234 in × 144 in)
Location	Washington, D.C.
Owner	Curtis Investments

The Chair is a giant outdoor sculpture located in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. It was originally built as a huge advertisement for a furniture company. You can find it at the corner of Martin Luther King Ave. and V. Street S.E.

For a while, this "Big Chair" was thought to be the largest chair in the world! However, other huge chairs like the Broken Chair in Geneva and The Writer in London are now bigger. The Smithsonian Institution even studied this chair in 1994 as part of a project to save outdoor sculptures.

What Does the Big Chair Look Like?

This amazing chair stands about 19 and a half feet tall. That's taller than a two-story building! It's a perfect copy of a classic Duncan Phyfe style chair, which is a type of fancy, old-fashioned furniture.

The chair is painted brown and has a white and brown striped "cushion." It's made entirely of aluminum, a strong and light metal. The whole sculpture weighs between 4,000 and 4,600 pounds. That's like the weight of two small cars! It sits firmly on a concrete base.

How the Big Chair Was Made

The first Big Chair was built in 1959 by Bassett Furniture, a company from Virginia. The idea came from Charles Curtis, who owned the Curtis Brothers Furniture company. He wanted a clever way to attract customers to his family's furniture store. The store was located right where the chair stands today.

The chair was officially presented on July 11, 1959. A special plaque was placed next to it. It said that the chair was the "World's Largest Chair" and was given to Curtis Bros. for their great service. The original chair was made of strong Honduras mahogany wood and weighed 4,000 pounds.

The New Big Chair

Over time, the original wooden chair started to rot, especially its legs. John Kidwell, who took care of the chair, often had to patch holes with cement after heavy rains.

In August 2005, the old chair was carefully taken apart and moved away for restoration. But instead of fixing the old one, a brand new chair was made! On April 25, 2006, the new chair was brought back. This time, it was made entirely of brown aluminum, which is much more durable.

More than 250 people came to celebrate the return of the chair, including Mayor Anthony A. Williams. A new plaque was placed, calling it "The Big Chair" and saying it represents the Curtis Companies' long connection to the neighborhood.

The new chair was designed by Devery Lomax and managed by John Kidwell. It was built by Cinnbar and Nelson's Welding. This new chair cost over $40,000 to create. It was so big that when it was delivered on a flatbed truck, they had to avoid bridges and overpasses!

Living in the Big Chair

Here's a fun fact about the Big Chair! On August 13, 1960, a woman named Rebecca Kirby (also known as Lynn Arnold) actually moved "into" the chair.

A special cubicle, about 10 by 10 feet, was built and placed right on the seat of the chair. It had everything she needed: a shower, a bed, a toilet, a heater, an air conditioner, and even a small balcony! A forklift was used to lift the cubicle onto the chair.

Rebecca Kirby lived in this unique home for 42 days! While living there, she would watch TV, read books, and talk on the phone. Her meals were delivered to her every day.

Every few hours, she would step out onto her balcony to wave to visitors. People learned about her unusual living situation from newspapers, which called her "Alice in the Looking Glass House." Visitors were even encouraged to guess how long she would stay. Her 14-month-old son, Richard, often visited her. He would be placed in a special dumbwaiter and sent up to see his mom!

After 42 days, Rebecca Kirby decided to "return to earth." She earned $1,500 for her stay in the Big Chair.