Belvi Framed Armchair

Belvi's whole character comes from the frame it leaves exposed. Arm, front leg and the rail at seat level draw one uninterrupted rectangle; seen from the side the chair reads not as a solid mass but as a cage you can look through.

The back is a closed hoop whose corners turn through a generous radius, and it leans back. Fine layer lines read on the edge of the hoop, so the curve looks bent rather than cut. In the bare frame photograph the inside of the hoop is completely empty; in the upholstered version a padded panel drops into it.

The legs are square in section and taper slightly towards the floor. Front and rear legs are deliberately unmatched: the rear pair carry on past seat level to become the back stiles and give the hoop its recline, while the front pair stop at arm height with the forward curling end of the arm seated on top. There is no stretcher between the legs at any level; below the seat rails all four legs run free to the floor. In the bare frame photograph the four rails at seat level close into a frame, with webbing slots and corner blocks left in plain view on their inner faces; that frame sits in the plane of the seat and is not a stretcher ring between the legs. The photographs show the bare, unfinished and unupholstered frame alongside the walnut stained version with a brown fabric upholstered back and seat.