Gerald Summers Armchair
British
Designed 1933
Designed by Gerald Summers (1899-1967)
Made by Makers of Simple Furniture (1931-1940)
This is an extremely rare example of the Bent Plywood Armchair in the Original White Cellulose Finish with the registration number stamped into the wood which reads "REGD.No 791116" and the number "37" under the front apron
Summers achieved with this Modernist masterpiece what his counterparts across Europe and Scandinavia had been striving for; it describes in the simplest terms the ideal unity of material, production, function and form. Made from a single rectangle of ply, the seven 3 mm thick sheets with four lengthwise and 2 lateral cuts were placed on top of each other, sandwiched with glue and laid in the mould. Such was the concern of an American buyer about the durability of this chair that it was given an ‘environmental’ test; it was soaked with water and left in a warm, damp space for a number of weeks. It passed the test and the London Patent Office granted Summers ‘application for registry’ of the chair to protect his innovative design from infringement.
Originally offered through Heals, Harrods and select department stores in the US, examples are now held by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Vitra Design Museum in Germany.
height 78 cm width 60.5 cm depth 86.5 cm (30.75 x 24 x 34.25 in)
Provenance:
UK private deceased estate - owned by a British Artist and purchased new.
Bibliography:
1000 Chairs and Peter Fiell, Cologne 2000 p.232.
100 Masterpieces Vitra Design Museum
Design for Today 1934
A History of British Design 1839-1970 Fiona McCarthy pub.1972
Furnishing the Small Home published London and New York 1930’s by the Studio Ltd.
The Design History Journal 1992 Vol.5 No.3 - precis of Masters' thesis by Martha Deese, Metropolitan Museum New York
Bent Wood and Metal Furniture 1850-1946 University of Washington Press edited by Derek E. Ostergard
Museums & Exhibitions:
Work by Gerald Summers held in the V & A Collections is to be included in the new 20th Century Furniture Galleries opening this year at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Vitra Design Museum
Thirties British Art and Design before the War organized by the Arts Council of Great Britain, London 1979
‘Constructivism in Art & Design’ Crafts Council Gallery, London 1988