Reincarnating The Voluptuous Madam Rubens... From A Mattress

If you remember your art history, Peter Paul Rubens was the 17th century Dutch artist best known for his paintings of cherubic children and voluptuously chubby young women. The Madam Rubens created by Frank Willems, a modern Dutch designer, is definitely voluptuous. She's in the form of a chair created from layers of recycled mattresses.

The Madam Rubens chairs, currently on display at the Please Do Not Sit exhibit at the Tools Gallery in Paris (until July 26, 2008) are some of the most voluptuous chairs and stools you're likely to see. Willems not only had the vision for these chair designs, marrying the mattress forms to the curvaceous legs and backs of antique furniture, but he created a process for recycling mattresses, removing the wires and other hardware embedded in the mattress.

Once the mattress is bound to the foundation, Willems coats the chair with a hygienic, water-resistant foam and pliable paint.

A variation of the Madam Rubens is the Petit Pouf, in case you want to put your feet up.