"In my mind the rocking chair was invented in America, although I'm sure that is not true in fact. For me, designing a new rocking chair is the ideal way to celebrate the heritage, imagination, and craftsmanship of Bernhardt Design.

The Adirondack chair served as early inspiration, but my focus soon turned to the Windsor rocking chair, whose complexity and refinement are remarkable. I wanted to take the essential elements of the Windsor rocker and put them together in a new and different way.

The exterior of the Harper chair is very much like a birds nest with a structure composed of twigs. The interioris a cocoon - in this instance a suspended cocoon. The seat and back appear to be floating inside the nest.I wanted to bring warmth and texture to the cocoon, rather than use the typical wood seat found in a Windsor chair. To achieve this, I looked at leather saddles as a point of reference. The floating saddle seat brings a level of tailoring and quality to the chair, while still maintaining an important sense of familiarity.

It was important that we use classic American woods: maple for the spindles and cherry for the structure. The choice of maple for the spindles was very deliberate, selected for its light color and visual transparency. The contrast between the two woods enables you to follow the form of the chair and easily see the suspended interior. For me, the most special aspect of Harper is that you experience something different from every perspective. As you walk around the chair it is constantly changing and becoming something new." - Noe Duchafour-Lawrance

Named in honor of Bernhardt Design founder Anne Harper Bernhardt, the Harper chair is constructed in solid American cherry and American maple with a natural clear finish. With age, the cherry elements will darken. The seat is offered with a flange stitch detail and available in leather in a range of color-ways.

Photo courtesy of Luxe Interiors + Design