Vintage cast iron patio furniture  

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Maybe try reading up on Schinkel? I think he helped kick start it.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0856674621/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link

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The origin of the ubiquitous cast iron furniture?
Or, the origin of your guilty-pleasure in the ubiquitous cast iron furniture? If you're asking the latter, one can only assume that the design is hopelessly tangled-up in a fond memory from your childhood. A first kiss in the garden, perhaps? A particularly triumphant victory, during a cut-throat game of musical chairs? It may take years of intensive therapy to answer this question.
Your fondness for the Richard Schultz Topiary collection, on the other hand, challenges my amateur psychiatry skills.
I just googled it, to get a gander. I should have known I was in for trouble when I read Richard Schultz's explanation of his design: "I wanted to design a chair which looked like a shrub pruned to look like a chair."
Richard, this is no sensible course of action, for an adult.

I don't think
Richard Schultz ever tried to make anyone think that his Topiary Collection wasn't a new take on the classic French 18th Century cast iron stuff!
I have a deck out the back of the long kitchen and it's filled with Richard Schultz furniture.
Originally I had bought two white '1966' Leisure chairs with tired slings and a low coffe cable in white with a brown porcelain top.
Then I was lucky to but two Topiary chairs in Onyx - new from Richard Schultz - for a fraction of their regular price because Schultz decided to thicken the alunimum material.
Now, I contacted Richard Schultz to get new slings for those white dining chairs and instead I bought two black dining room chairs (as seconds) for $250.00 each(!) and a white on white dining 36" table that was returned with a bit of chipped paint.
All of the Schultz pieces I have cost me less than one new table would've cost!
It's beautiful deck/patio furniture.

I was actually wondering...
I was actually wondering about the design of this original cast iron furniture, what style it's classified under, who might have either designed it or been responsible for it, and other DA's opinions of the chair/setee/table designs. I don't know why, but I wouldn't mind having a set. It's just strange to me, I am normally a MCM guy.

I guess
the lack of attention this thread has received should tell me something? Have I fallen under the spell of sentiment and attached myself to an aesthetic monstrosity?

like these
like these

Whitespike, I have the exact...
Whitespike, I have the exact (or very similar) chair! I couldn't say the age, they are very heavy and sturdy, comfortable to
I picked the pair up for £40 a couple of years back, they have been painted a horrible green colour still havent got round to cleaning them up,
Undecided what to do with them, have considered getting them blasted then waxing or take the easier option and have them powder coated (whispers) in yellow

yellow
would be fun. it's perhaps the only color i would consider, save for white or black. I still think redoing them in a glossy super perfect white would be great. I know they come that way, but in general I have always like ornate designs that are "flattened" by the use of white or black.

I agree, they would look grea...
I agree, they would look great in glossy white,
my only concern is that there is no glides so using them indoors could possibly damage the floor (mine live on the balcony so its not an issue) thinking about would'nt be to much of an issue to add small felt glides
There is a company which covers similar pieces in velvet ( the name escapes me), its certainly eyecatching! I think it may be these guys, on the opening image you can just make out the yellow free standing mirror which is covered in the same manner
http://www.squintlimited.com/

Speaking of patio furniture
I posted this elsewhere, but it's appropriate here.
All Richard Schultz and all well below the originally price
- A pair of Topiary chairs
- 1 white Dining table
- A pair of 1966/Leisure Black dining room chairs
- 1 white coffee table with a brown top

Posted the pix, Lloyd
see above

but seriously
back to cast iron furniture...
although I love some Richard Schultz! In fact a couple of these classic cast iron chairs and a petal table could be pretty swell - pristine in white.

Could it be Salterini?
Hi all...since I saw this thread I thought to ask. What do you guys think about this set? I have mixed feeling about it.