The Chiavari chair: how a light chair from an Italian town in 1807 became the wedding chair

A chair with a 200-year-old brief

In 1807, in the small town of Chiavari on the Ligurian coast, the Marquis Stefano Rivarola gave a local cabinetmaker a challenge: design a new, modern chair, based on a chair he had brought from Paris (source 1).

The cabinetmaker was Giuseppe Gaetano Descalzi (1767–1855). People called him "il Campanino", the bell ringer, because his grandfather rang the bells of the local church (source 1). He took the heavy French Empire style, simplified the decoration and made the structure lighter (source 2). The result was a cherrywood chair that was, in the words of his biography, "both light and robust" (source 1).

It worked. The chairs became very popular and were bought by many of the monarchs of the time (source 1). When Descalzi died in 1855, about 600 workers were making Chiavari chairs (source 2). A century later, Gio Ponti drew on the same structure for his famous Superleggera chair (source 2).

Why event companies still buy it

The brief from 1807, light and strong, is exactly what an event company needs today. A chair that is easy to carry gets set up faster. A chair that is strong survives hundreds of events.

And clients ask for it. The wedding site WeddingWire calls the Chiavari "one of the most popular wedding chair styles", used most at traditional and formal events (source 3). It can be left bare or dressed up, and it fits a ballroom, a marquee or a garden.

The problem: not every Chiavari is a good rental chair

A rental company does not buy one chair. It buys hundreds, and then re-orders. Five things decide whether the fleet earns money:

1. The finish. One finish that suits most weddings (for example, a light wash, gold or white) means every chair can go to every event. Mixed finishes split your fleet.
2. The seat pad. A pad in a neutral colour works for most events. Spare pads in other colours change the look without new chairs.
3. Stacking. Stackable chairs take less space in the van and in the warehouse. Ask how many chairs stack safely, and whether there is a trolley.
4. Strength. Event chairs are carried, stacked and loaded every week. Ask the maker for the test report of the exact model. Our guide to questions before ordering lists what to ask.
5. Re-orders. In two years you will need 50 more chairs in the same colour. Choose a maker that keeps the model and the finish.

Where RikoStyle fits

We make two Chiavari models, the Chivari UK and the Chivari USA, plus the Napoleon chair for a similar formal look (source 4):

Model	Seat height	Overall height	Width	Stacking
Chivari UK chair	510 mm	920 mm	410 mm	Yes
Chivari USA chair	510 mm	920 mm	410 mm	Yes
Napoleon chair	510 mm	900 mm	420 mm	Yes

• Solid beech, in 8 frame finishes: Green Gold, Red Gold, Silver, White, Black, Mahogany, Natural and Lime wash.
• Seat pads in faux leather, in black, brown, grey, blue, cream, burgundy and red.
• A trolley for stacking chairs is in the range, for moving stacks in the warehouse and at the venue.

For building a full fleet with cross-back and folding chairs as well, read the three event chairs clients ask for most and our guide to banquet chairs for a rental fleet.

We offer these chairs to event rental companies and wedding venues, hotels with function rooms, interior designers, furniture retailers and importers, and we are looking for long-term partners in each of these groups. Ask us for samples in the finishes you want to compare.

Sources

1. Wikipedia, Giuseppe Gaetano Descalzi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Gaetano_Descalzi
2. Wikipedia, Chiavari chair: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiavari_chair
3. WeddingWire, 18 types of wedding chairs to add to your event rental list, Samantha Iacia (26 May 2021): https://weddingwire.com/wedding-ideas/11-popular-wedding-chair-styles
4. RikoStyle product data as published on rikostyle.com, November 2026.