The Most Famous Chair in the World was Created by Filipino Prisoners
Ever seen this chair before?
From Al Di Meola’s Casino
From The Addams Family (1964)
From Beyonce’s 2016 Formation Tour
In case you haven’t, this wicker-made seat is not just any piece of furniture you’ll find.
Meet the Peacock Chair: a historically prominent item in the international entertainment and design industry that’s long been detached from its real origins.
The Peacock Chair has been used as a prop in countless album covers, posters, and stage productions. Because of this, it became popular in the US midway through the 20th century, even being featured in various films and TV shows like The Addams Family in the 1960s. Black Panther Party leader Huey Newton was also photographed sitting in one. From John F. Kennedy to Beyonce, different iterations of the Peacock chair have been used in popular culture for decades.
How the Peacock Chair came to be
The chronicles behind this piece of furniture are highly debated. When the Americans took over the Philippines, they brought in the Victorian aesthetic that influenced the local culture. As a result, a rise in the production of rattan furniture occurred between 1899 to 1946–and the Peacock Chair may have been one of the first pieces produced during that time.
While Danish furniture maker Hans J. Wegner may have been credited for its design, Phaidon’s design book In Chair: 500 Designs That Matter, claims that the throne-like structure likely originated from the Philippines–which also explains why it’s called a “Manila” or “Philippine chair.” The pieces were handcrafted in Manila’s Bilibid Prison, where inmates wove these chairs as a form of “rehabilitation”.
Associate professor Vincent Louie Tan, Ph.D. from De La Salle College of Saint Benilde School of Design and the Arts, explains that the prison, surprisingly, was a tourist destination for Americans and other foreign visitors. They would come to watch the prisoners weave, buy their work, and then ship it back to their home countries—inadvertently becoming a means of livelihood for the convicts. Unfortunately, it was also a show of white power and privilege. According to Tan, “(The tourists) had wanted to showcase these penal colonies to exhibit how much change or modernization they were bringing…You can think of that chair as a product, or another symbol of empire.” In fact, the first person ever to be photographed sitting on the chair was a female inmate and her baby.
From El Paso Herald (1914)
Putting Filipino craftsmanship in the spotlight
The Peacock Chair may be globally recognized as an icon of craftsmanship today; however, the cultural significance it holds for Filipinos continues to be unknown by many. This very issue is what prompted San Francisco-based designer Cheyenne Concepcion to launch her furniture collection Reclaim at WantedDesign, Brooklyn in May 2022. She even admits that she only accidentally learned about the chair’s history while doing research for another item.
From Cheyenne Concepcion
Meanwhile, the internationally-renowned Cebuano designer Kenneth Cobonque, whose furniture works are often utilized by K-pop artists, took it upon himself to create modern versions of the Peacock chair. His designs eventually won him the 2018 IIDA/HD Product Design Competition Award.
From Kenneth Cobonque
The more society advances, the more prone it is to forget the stories of its past. This is why it’s important to honor the cultural heritage behind certain items as they represent its respective people and preserve its legacy for generations to come.
The Peacock Chair is revered as a seat of power due to its striking appearance. However, it is more than just a throne prop featured in Drake’s album or a statement piece used in new and trendy places–and it has certainly gone beyond being a symbol of white power. Rather, it is an embodiment of the craftsmanship and creativity built into the blood of Filipinos.