This chair, designed by the architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, has been celebrated for re-introducing decoration and historic form into contemporary furniture. The Chippendale Chair is one of a series of nine chairs in historical styles created for Knoll International in the mid-1980s. Venturi Scott Brown served as a “manifesto of postmodern historicism,” their witty and humorous plywood forms referencing historical shapes and ornament.

The name of the chair refers to the designs of Thomas Chippendale, the most famous British furniture designer of the 18th century. Venturi used Chippendale's designs for chairbacks as an inspiration for this model but the materials, techniques and design of the chair differ radically from that of the 18th century designer.

The chair is constructed of plywood, with a simple cut-out detailing on the back rest of the chair. The laminate used to coat the plywood is decorated with floral emblems and what has been described by the design team as, an 'ant pattern' - a pattern of dashes. Called 'Grandmother', the pattern was created by Venturi Scott Brown in 1983. The inspiration for the pattern came from a table cloth belonging to a Venturi Scott Brown associate and was also produced as a cotton sateen fabric for the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia.