A Metamorphic Masterpiece of Elegance
Chrysalide CHair
Client
Tjep. internal project
Design
Tjep.
Design team
Frank Tjepkema & Tomás Schön
Production
Tjep.
Year
2019
A Sensual Seat Capturing Nature's Transformation
Imagine a chair that embodies the fleeting beauty of metamorphosis—a sensual form where the cocoon of tradition unfurls into the vibrant wings of a butterfly. The Chrysalide Chair, unveiled by Tjep. in 2019 at Masterly The Hague, marks a pinnacle in Frank Tjepkema’s most expressive and personal oeuvre, joining the celebrated Leerdam Krystal Orange Vase in redefining contemporary design with poetic depth.
Rooted in Memory, Reborn in Bronze
Drawing inspiration from a Louis XIV chair that once graced Tjepkema’s childhood home, the Chrysalide’s front facade evokes nostalgic elegance, its emaciated frame distilled into a sleek bronze skeleton that pulses with modern fragility. “I tried to visualize the aesthetic of metamorphosis in an elegant contemporary furniture piece,” Tjepkema shares, crafting a dialogue between past comforts and future aspirations, where fault lines become feats of artistic reinvention.
Bronze and Alcantara: A Tactile Dance of Contrast
Forged in bronze—a material of ancient resonance—the chair’s slender legs and undulating structure gleam with enduring strength, while the seat, swathed in luxurious Alcantara, cradles with organic softness. Collaborating with artisans behind Spyker cars’ upholstery, Tjep. ensures flawless stitching and fluid curves, creating a tactile interplay that mirrors the pupa’s tender emergence into flight, inviting sitters to linger in its transformative embrace.
A Limited-Edition Jewel at Masterly The Hague
Debuting amid the historic grandeur of Gallery Hoogsteder & Hoogsteder, where it shared the stage with a towering portrait of Willem III, the Chrysalide Chair captivated at Masterly The Hague from September 19–22, 2019. Limited to just 12 exquisite pieces, each chair is a collector’s treasure, its reflective bronze surfaces dancing with light like butterfly scales, offering a private spectacle of evolution at Lange Vijverberg and Lange Voorhout.
Tjep.'s Poetic Provocation in Design’s Evolution
More than a seat, Chrysalide is Tjep.’s lyrical challenge to static design, echoing the innovative spirit of our Oogst series and House of Yes while cocooning the sitter in a narrative of change. It asks us to embrace transformation—not as disruption, but as an elegant unfolding of potential, where heritage and innovation entwine to shape the future of repose.
Unfurling Beauty, One Limited Edition at a Time
Delicate yet defiant, it proves a single chair can redefine the art of sitting. Explore more of Tjep.’s boundary-breaking creations on Tjep.com, where we weave stories of metamorphosis into every design.
Visually delicate, yet unyieldingly strong.
The Bronze Age collection showcases meticulously hand-crafted pieces, rooted in traditional techniques that once defined human survival. Each work is a labor-intensive creation, forged from bronze—the material that heralded the dawn of civilization.
“For this project, I sought to counter the technology-driven trends fueled by digital innovations like 3D printing. Bronze, with its inherent value, embodies sustainability: it is either cherished and preserved or melted down and reborn, never discarded. Who knows—some of these pieces might even carry the essence of ancient bronze swords, remelted and reimagined,” says Frank Tjepkema, lead designer and founder of Tjep.
The bronze foundation of this collection evokes stability, strength, and enduring sustainability, as the material can be endlessly recycled. The furniture designs draw on classic forms but are transformed to reflect a modern narrative. The collection boldly engages with contemporary issues, evoking the specter of human-induced crises—such as climate change or nuclear fallout—positioning these pieces as both timeless and urgently relevant.
The result is a series of sculptural works that marry a pure, elegant aesthetic with robust physicality. Do these pieces bear the scars of great calamity, or do they stand as testaments to the enduring power of tradition, like an ancient bronze sword?