Mid2Mod: The Chair

Showing posts with label The Chair. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

You look so familiar: Part 1 - Tall legs, wraparound arms

Ever notice how designers have freely "borrowed" design elements from each other over the decades? I'm not talking about fly-by-night manufacturers or hack designers who generally get our upturned noses. I'm talking about well-known designers with impeccable reputations whom most of us revere.

I decided to examine lookalike chairs, and what I found most interesting was how one designer borrowed a seat idea. Then another copied a back or a pedestal or an arm. Before long, one chair design morphed into the next, so that it was hard to draw clear lines between categories...and sometimes between designers.

For the next few weeks, I'll feature some of the distinct lookalikes, as well as the specific design elements that have shown up frequently over the years. It makes me wonder: How many ways are there to design a chair, really? Why do some people dismiss Burke tulip chairs as mere knockoffs while celebrating the designs of Robin Day (one of my favorites), such as the last chair below that bears just as strong a resemblance to Wegner's The Chair? Is there anything new under the sun, when you get right down to it? And are we designer snobs?

Note: For a more in-depth look at the topic of actual knockoffs/reproductions from the point of view of a collector, from a manufacturer and from the heir of a designer, you can read a three-part post I did about the article "Is It Real?" from Jet Set Modern in February and March of this year.

Tall, Skinny Legs and Wraparound Arms