Garouste and Bonetti did not radically re-think the forms and uses of furniture, but re-styled it for a knowing and urbane audience, in a period dominated by post-modernist irony and symbolism. This attitude was a conscious rejection of modernist functionalism. They turned instead to historical styles for inspiration, or imaginatively reconstructed ancient styles, as with the 'Barbarian' range of chairs, sconces, lamps and tables.

Designed in 1981, this furniture was made from coarse wrought iron, and for this chair an animal hide was laced into the frame as upholstery, evoking early ways of living. Its conception relies on a sophisticated understanding of design and art history. The wrought iron consciously suggests the mid-twentieth century furniture of Diego Giacometti, while the form of the chair is relatively conventional.