Some chair styles as famous as classic art

As in every art form, interior design has its classics.

In art, the classic artists that readily come to mind are Van Gogh, Dali, Gauguin and Picasso. The Mona Lisa, for example, is equated with class and good taste. And so it is with classical furniture.

Here are some of the most celebrated classical chairs of the interior-design world:

Queen Anne: Queen Anne reigned from 1702 to 1714. And while her sovereignty lasted only 12 years, the influence of furniture with her namesake has transgressed time. Queen Anne, as a style, did away with the ornate and pursued a subtle, dramatic simplicity with familiar details, including cockleshells, splat backs, cabriole legs and the clubfoot. The predominant wood used was walnut.

Chippendale: Thomas Chippendale learned the furniture-making trade from his father, also named Thomas Chippendale. The time in history was around 1750 and the prevalent wood for this furniture was mahogany. Chippendale furniture is typified by the cabriole leg, ball foot and ornate backs, which incorporate Gothic, Chinese and rococo details. Thomas Chippendale's furniture was popular with the nobility of his time, assuring his immortality in history.

Bertoia: Born in Italy, Harry Bertoia came to the United States in 1930. He is best known for his wire-mesh chair also called the diamond chair, whose seat, arms and back are multicurved, basket-shaped lattice, suspended on a box-like leg structure. The purist will purchase this chair allowing only a thin cushion to grace the seat, though the Bertoia chair is also available with a fabric mold covering the seat, back and arms.

Breuer: The Breuer chair named for its creator, Marcel Breuer, has two faces. For a while the name was considered a generic for chrome-based, steel tube, cane seat and back chair that we've all seen in homes and restaurants around the country. The other famous Breuer chair also has a base of steel tubing with canvas spanning the seat, back and arms. A distinctive quality in this latter version is the apparent deep incline visible in the seat. Both chairs were created in the 1920s and are still popular today.

Hitchcock: Here is a chair that has more historical appeal than current visual appeal. Though the name conjures up images of attacking birds or daggers in the shower, the chair is actually harmless. Alfred Hitchcock (yes, the chair manufacturer was also named Alfred) produced his masterpieces in 1826-'44. The Connecticut town in which they were manufactured was once named Hitchcocksville after the artisan but has since been renamed Riverton. Stenciled back and legs typify this chair.

Rosemary Sadez Friedmann, an interior designer in Naples, Fla., is author of "Mystery of Color."