Marcel Breuer (Hungarian 1902-1981) for Thonet
'B3' Club Chair, designed 1925-7 and 'B33' Side Chair
£1,890
Auction: 28 October 2022 from 10:00 BST
Description
tubular steel frames, slung with Tygan, 1930s production
Dimensions
Club Chair: 75.5cm high, 74cm wide (29 3/4in high, 29in wide); Side Chair: 78.7cm high, 47cm wide (31in high, 18 1/2in wide)
Provenance
Provenance:
Collection of Zeev Aram, London since the 1960s.
Footnote
“I thought that this out of all my work would bring me the most criticism. It is my most extreme work both in its outward appearance and in the use of materials; it is the least artistic, the most logical, the least ‘cosy’ and the most mechanical”. (Marcel Breuer)
Marcel Breuer first developed the design for the ‘B3’ or ‘Wassily’ Chair in 1925, taking ‘the pipe dimensions…from my bicycle. I didn’t know where else to get it or how to figure it out’. Over a period Breuer developed the chair from the original version which connected the side legs in a sled or runner arrangement, to the later version where the uprights are connected in an uninterrupted design. By the 1930s Thonet modified Breuer's design without his permission, as they held copyright, by altering the frame at the front edge of the seat and adding a floor stretcher to stabilise the form.