From Lawn Road To South Chicago: Progressive Plywood In Times of Change
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Gerald Summers, England, 1934
Armchair in cut and bent birch-laminated plywood. Designed by Gerald Summers for Makers of Simple Furniture, England, 1934.
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Venesta Plywood Company
Stool. 1933-39. (ST707)
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Manufactured Luterma, Tallinn, Estonia.
Retailed by Isokon Furniture Company, London
Bent birch plywood, iron foot plates and screws
This “prime object” of modern design history is underappreciated by collectors and curators. It was originally designed circa 1930 by the Estonian company Luterma, a pioneer in plywood technology. Their English export division was known as Venesta, and Jack Pritchard was their English representative starting in 1925. The stool was first imported by Pritchard in 1933 and retailed as Model no. 1 by his fledgling firm known as Isokon.
Studying the history of these stools over the years has brought me much joy. After Isokon began producing original designs in plywood by Marcel Breuer and others, Walter Gropius was hired as a consultant. His major contribution to the firm was a modernist modification of the stool in 1936, in which he straightened the classical shape of the stool’s cut-outs and seat. It remains incredibly difficult to discern the differences in shape between the original model and the Gropius modification, but the present example, which is in superb original condition, would appear to be the original design. Both versions of the Isokon stool are illustrated in period photographs of the “Isobar” designed in 1937 by Breuer in the Lawn Road Flats, Hampstead.
Examples of the original version of the stool are in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum and the University of East Anglia Collection. An example of the Gropius modification is in the collection of LACMA.
$7,500.00
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Marcel Breuer, England, 1935
Long Chair. Manufactured by Isokon Furniture Company, London, 1935–1939. Plywood.
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After Breuer fled Nazi Germany, he settled in London, where he designed a seminal series of plywood furniture for Isokon, the firm founded by Jack Pritchard. Influenced heavily by Aalto, the Long Chair featured a bent ply seat manufactured by the firm Venesta in Estonia, which was shipped to London and united with its wooden arms assembled from recycled packing crates and other scraps. The present one, like many, was originally upholstered by Isokon, but probably lost its tacked cushion when the collecting market for the chair started to develop in the 1980s. It was the most successful design for Isokon, and today more than a dozen examples are in museums. -
Norman Teague, United States, 2020
"Sinmi Stool" in laminated and bent birch plywood seat with ebonized finish, ebonized and laminated Baltic birch legs, and black rubber saddle. Designed by Norman Teague and produced by Norman Teague Design Studios, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 2020. Edition of 25.
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Norman Teague, United States, 2020
"Sinmi Stool" in laminated and bent walnut plywood seat, solid walnut legs with footrests, and leather saddle by Yohance Lacour. Designed by Norman Teague and produced by Norman Teague Design Studios, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 2020. Edition of 25.
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Norman Teague, United States, 2020
"Sinmi Stool" in laminated and bent birch plywood seat, solid shaped White Oak legs with footrests, and vegan leather saddle by Yohance Lacour. Designed by Norman Teague and produced by Norman Teague Design Studios, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 2020. Edition of 25.
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Norman Teague, United States, 2020
"Africana Chair" in solid basswood, with leather seat by Yohance Lacour. Designed by Norman Teague and produced by Norman Teague Design Studios, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 2020. Edition of 10.
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