The clue to the amazing sleight of hand, eye, and mind that is Jaime Hayon’s 22 chair for Ceccotti Collezioni is in the name. For whereof this enigmatic number in assignation of this equally enigmatic chair? Given that the piece looks as if it magically emerged from some alchemist’s mold (wherein are conjured all manner of serpentine curvatures from liquid acrylic, or silicone-resin polymers, but certainly from nothing as pedestrian as wood), one might be less than likely to conjecture that the name pointed to enumeration of the parts of its making.

22 chair. Designed by Jaime Hayon. Manufactured by Ceccotti.

Jaime Hayon’s 22 Chair is an Elegant, Artisanal Take on the Classic Wingback

At the risk of dispensing with the drama too soon… I know the suspense must be killing you, so the truth is this: 22 does in fact refer to 22’s parts, of which there are precisely 22, every one of which is excellently camouflaged within Hayon’s expert joinery, the whole of them covered up in a lovely charcoal sheen that coheres into one discrete whole.

And what a whole it is. Much as the marvelous human body hides the truth of its articulating bones and joints behind a symphony of seamless movement, so too does Hayon’s 22 become something absolutely other than the whole of its parts.

In the manner of all good art, the chair is gorgeous and strange. The aesthetic is contemporary and ancient at once. With its slim swooping lines, preponderance of negative space, and luxuriously upholstered seat and back, it might have been made for the principal of an ancient race of lizard kings, or for some unholy cerebral offspring of Dalí and Tim Burton—or even for you, if you dare, in your humble office, and your unwitting guests, waiting, whether they know it or not, to be enveloped by every one of its 22 unmistakable charms.

About the Manufacturer: Even in translation, the concise and creative description of the philosophy of Ceccotti Collezioni is elegant and apt: “The poet like an acrobat, traveling through the essence of Ceccotti Collezioni.” The company is known for daring design and bold risk-taking. Working with such auspicious collaborators and co-conspirators as Jamie Hayon, Christophe Pillet, and Yuni Ahn, Ceccotti has created some of the most stunning pieces of this early new millennium. Examples include the Marlowe Swivel Armchair, the Agatha Dreams Lounger, and the Demasiado Corazón Bed.