Betty Cobonpue Sculptural Split Reed Rattan Lounge Chairs

Filipino furniture designer Betty Cobonpue has since the 1980s created imaginative contemporary pieces, including her now-famous sculptural furniture made from laminated rattan vines, a technique she pioneered and for which her Scultura collection achieved renown.

Cobonpue studied interior and industrial design in New York before returning to Cebu in the Philippines. While she worked as an interior designer in New York for a short time, furniture design proved to be her overarching passion. By 1971, frustrated by multiple companies and designers copying her work, Cobonpue set up shop with a handful of carpenters in her backyard in Cebu to have full control over her products. 

She was particularly inspired by the shape of a Chinese barrel and, with the help of her best carpenter, created a ribbon-like sash. Cobonpue’s designs follow a “no hard-edge” philosophy started by that first rattan ribbon. Every piece flows and contours around itself, giving each lounge chair a sense of inviting comfort and each center table a reinforced sturdiness. 

Cobonpue passed on her company to her son, furniture designer Kenneth Cobonpue. The pair continue to collaborate on projects that are in demand with collectors for their distinctive shapes and inviting materials. 

On 1stDibs, find a collection of Betty Cobonpue building and garden elements, seating, tables and more.

While this specific seating is known to all for its comfort and familiar form, the history of how your favorite antique or vintage lounge chair came to be is slightly more ambiguous.

Although there are rare armchairs dating back as far as the 17th century, some believe that the origins of the first official “lounge chair” are tied to Hungarian modernist designer-architect Marcel Breuer. Sure, Breuer wasn’t exactly reinventing the wheel when he introduced the Wassily lounge chair in 1925, but his seat was indeed revolutionary for its integration of bent tubular steel.

Officially, a lounge chair is simply defined as a “comfortable armchair,” which allows for the shape and material of the furnishings to be extremely diverse. Whether or not chaise longues make the cut for this category is a matter of frequent debate.

The Eames lounge chair, on the other hand, has come to define somewhat of a universal perception of what a lounge chair can be. Introduced in 1956, the Eames lounger (and its partner in cozy, the ottoman) quickly became staples in television shows, prestigious office buildings and sumptuous living rooms. Venerable American mid-century modern designers Charles and Ray Eames intended for it to be the peak of luxury, which they knew meant taking furniture to the next level of style and comfort. Their chair inspired many modern interpretations of the lounge — as well as numerous copies.

On 1stDibs, find a broad range of unique lounge chairs that includes everything from antique Victorian-era seating to vintage mid-century modern lounge chairs by craftspersons such as Hans Wegner to contemporary choices from today’s innovative designers.