GERALD SUMMERS FOR MAKERS OF SIMPLE FURNITURE, 1930S
ARMCHAIR
£14,000
Auction: 14 November 2007 at 11:00 GMT
Description
single sheet of cut and bent birch plywood
Dimensions
60.5cm wide, 78.5cm high, 90.5cm deep
Footnote
Literature; Charlotte & Peter Fiell, 1000 Chairs, Cologne, 2000, p.232.
Note;
In 1929 Summers and his wife Majorie Amy Butcher started Makers of Simple Furniture and began to experiment with free-form designs and malleable materials. Summers specialised in airplane plywood, which resulted in some of the most innovative designs of the period. His seminal work of 1933-4, an example of which is offered here, took advantage of the wood's flexibility. Summers manipulated one piece of wood into a seamless seat, considered a Modernist masterpiece. With its smooth surface and absence of metal, it was originally designed for use in the tropics to withstand high humidity however the chair was only replicated 120 times because the production cost was too high and the back legs were prone to break.