TheTripolina is afolding chair made out of wood with metal swivel joints andanimal hide. It was invented byJoseph B. Fenby and patented in1877 in England and in1881 in the United States, respectively.[1]
After the Tripolina’s appearance at the Saint Louis trade show in 1904, the design was licensed to European manufacturers and toGold Medal Inc. in Wisconsin, USA, a company that produced military, camping and resort furniture throughout the 20th century.[2] In Europe, the Tripolina chair was produced before World War II, among others, by the firm of Viganò inTripoli, Libya,[3] for the expatriate Italian market as a camping chair of great stability in the sand and made from local wood and camel or cow hide.[4] The Italian firm of Viganò clearly stamped their products on the rear of the hides with their large "Paolo Viganò Tripoli" oval seal. The hide is nowadays often replaced by canvas or other materials.
The design has inspired other chairs, the famousBKF Chair[5] for instance, also known asButterfly chair. It utilizes curved metal instead of wood for its structure, and the seat cover is composed of four separate pieces.