Lot 42
Gerald Summers (British 1899-1967) for Makers of Simple Furniture
ARMCHAIR, 1933-34
£25,200
Auction: 28 October 2022 from 10:00 BST
Description
white-stained birch plywood, stamped 'REGD. No. 791116', and stamped '37' (under front apron)
Dimensions
Provenance
Provenance:
Purchased new by Oxford artist Juliette May Lucille Edwards (1909-2011), and acquired by the current vendor from works from her estate in 2011.
Footnote
Literature:
Sloane, Abel and Ruby Woodhouse, The Simple Heart of Plywood, an Introduction to Gerald Summers and the Makers of Simple Furniture, London, 2018, p.17, fig. 13 (similar example illustrated);
Wilk, Christopher and Elizabeth Bisley, Plywood, A Material Story, London, 2017, p. 155, pl. 202 (similar design illustrated);
Fiell, Charlotte and Peter, 1000 Chairs, Cologne, 2005, p. 174 (similar design illustrated);
100 Masterpieces from the Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, 1995, pp. 110-111 (similar design illustrated);
Ostergard, Derek (ed.), Bent Wood and Metal Furniture 1850-1946, New York, 1987, p. 158, fig. 5-65; p. 318, fig. 106 (similar designs illustrated);
Summers had the ingenious vision to try and construct a chair from a single sheet of plywood. The form does not depend on any joins, pegging or connectors and has very little waste materials as its design primarily relies on simple incisions and mould bending.
