CHAIRS: 125 Years of Design

The Southeastern Architectural Archive has been installing its new exhibition, co-curated by Keli Rylance and Kevin Williams.

CHAIRS: 125 Years of Design illustrates the profound aesthetic, cultural, societal and technological changes that have impacted modern chair design. Highlights include seating furniture by A.W.N. Pugin (1812-1852), Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), James Lamantia (1923-), and Curtis & Davis (active 1947-1978).

The exhibition features the following works:

Inventory of Works

Baird, Henry W. (†1959)

Check Desk and Settee. 1918. Ink on paper.

Baird, Henry W. (†1959)

Office Design. Undated. Pencil on paper.

Curtis & Davis (active 1947-1978)[Nathaniel “Buster” Curtis, Jr. 1917-1998] [Arthur Q. Davis, 1920-]

Sanctuary Stacking Chair, Sedilla, and Prie-Dieu for St. Francis Cabrini Church, New Orleans. 1961.Pencil on paper

Curtis & Davis (active 1947-1978) [Nathaniel “Buster” Curtis, Jr. 1917-1998] [Arthur Q. Davis, 1920-]

Seating for Sacristy Furniture, St. Francis Cabrini Church, New Orleans. c. 1961. Ink on paper.

De Buys, Rathbone (1874-1960)

Interior, The Tudor Theatre, New Orleans, c. 1915. Photograph.

Eames, Charles (1907-1978)

Plastic Chairs, 1960-1961. Color Samples, Catalogs and Price Lists, Herman Miller, Inc., Zeeland, Michigan.

Freret & Wolf (active 1946-1980) [Douglass V. Freret, 1903-1973] [Albert Wolf, 1914-2004]

Offices for Montagnet Associates. Location unidentified. 1952. Pencil, ink, and colored pencil on tracing paper.

Knoll, Florence (1917-); Bellman, Hans (1911-1990); Saarinen, Eero (1910-1961); Mies Van Der Rohe, Ludwig (1886-1969)

Chairs. Undated Catalogs, Knoll Associates, Inc.

Lamantia, James (1923-)

Unidentified Furniture Showroom. Undated. Ink and watercolor on tracing paper.

Lamantia, James (1923-)

Unidentified Project. Undated. Ink on tracing paper.

Lamantia, James (1923-)

Unidentified Project. Undated. Ink and gouache on tracing paper.

Lamantia, James (1923-)

Chaise Lounge for Interiors Magazine Competition. Undated. Ink and ink wash on illustration board.

Lowery, Mark, Lemuel McCoy & James Lamantia.

Kitchen 152-AB for Chicago Tribune’s 6^th Annual Better Rooms Competition. 1952. Mixed media on illustration board.

Lowery, Mark, Lemuel McCoy & James Lamantia.

Kitchen 152-B for Chicago Tribune’s 6^th Annual Better Rooms Competition, 1952. Mixed media on illustration board

Lowery, Mark, Lemuel McCoy & James Lamantia.

A-4 Bedroom for Single Occupancy-Juvenile 115 for Chicago Tribune’s 6^th Annual Better Rooms Competition, 1952. Mixed media on illustration board

Mellor, Meigs & Howe (active 1916-1928) [Walter Mellor, 1880-1940] [Arthur Ingersoll Meigs, 1889-1956] [George Howe, 1886-1955]

A Spanish Chair for Mrs. Newbold’s Dressing Table, 1925. Photogravure. An American Country House, the property of Arthur E. Newbold, Jr., Esq., Laverlock, PA. New York: The Architectural Book Publishing Company, Inc., 1925. Courtesy Rare Books, Special Collections Division

Mies Van Der Rohe, Ludwig (1886-1969)

Barcelona Chair. First designed 1929. Chromed Steel, Leather and Urethane Foam. Knoll International, 745 Fifth Avenue, NewYork. Courtesy Dean Lance Query

Moses, Harry L. (c. 1875-c.1933)

A Spanish Chair for F.E. Lee. Undated. Graphite on tracing paper.

Pugin, Augustus Welby Northmore (1812-1852)

Chairs. 1835. Etching. Gothic Furniture in the Style of the 15^th Century. London: Ackermann, 1835. Courtesy Rare Books, Special Collections Division

Roach, Philip (active 1949-1969)

“Imperial” Chair Profiles, client not given. Undated. Pencil and colored pencil on paper; Pencil on paper.

Sully & Toledano (active 1888-1892) [Thomas Sully 1855-1939] [Albert Toledano 1859-1923]

Pew for J.L. Harris Memorial Chapel, Christ Church Cathedral, New Orleans. c. 1889. Ink on linen.

Unknown Designer

Bentply Chair 1294-S16 with Urea Finish, Brass Ferrules & Rubber Cushion Guides. 1966. Thonet Industries, Inc., Park Avenue, New York. Private collection.

Unknown Designer

Fiberglass Chair Model 6000-8 with Chrome Legs, 1960s. Krueger Metal Products, Green Bay, Wisconsin. Private Collection

Unknown Designer

CH. 28 Chair. 1967. Catalog and Leather Sample. Zographos, Madison Avenue, New York.

Unknown Maker

Walnut Side Chair from the Masonic Temple, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Product supplied by George Smith Co., 1925. Private collection

[Weiblen, Albert] Albert Weiblen Marble & Granite Company (1889-1970s)

Plaster Models of Stone Benches. Undated.

[Weiblen, Albert] Albert Weiblen Marble & Granite Company (1889-1970s)

Photographs of Sample Marble Benches. Undated.

[Weiblen, Albert] Albert Weiblen Marble & Granite Company (1889-1970s)

Suggestion for Stone Seats for Audubon Park, New Orleans. 1920. Ink on linen.

Williams, Charles Milo (1867-1954)

Drawings of Chairs and Tables. 1903. Pen and ink.

William C. Williams & Brother (active 1884-c. 1890s)

Entrance Hall. Undated. Watercolor on paper.

William C. Williams & Brother (active 1884-c. 1890s)

Entrance Hall. Undated. Watercolor on paper.

Other catalogs/furniture announcements:

Auction Announcement 1861

Unreserved catalogue sale of very elegant household furniture from the best Paris makers, rich silver ware, ... by N. Vignie, auctioneer. Monday, April 22d and the following day ... no. 104 Bourbon street ... at the residence of A. Ledoux,Esq., leaving for Europe ... New Orleans, 1861. Courtesy The Louisiana Research Collection, Gift of Mrs. Alford Guna

Catalog No. 11, c. 1911

Southern Seating Company, New Orleans.

School Furniture Catalog 100S, c. 1919

Distributed by W.T. Moore & Co., New Orleans for Heywood-Wakefield. Wakefield, Massachusetts.

General Catalog of Equipment, 1926

Albert Pick and Company, Chicago, Illinois.

Church Furniture Catalog No. 51, 1952

Riecke Cabinet Works, New Orleans.

Unknown Maker

Theatre Seating Ends, c. 1900 From the St. Charles Theatre, St. Charles Avenue. Painted Cast Iron and Wood.

Sanitary Opera Chairs for Church Auditorium & Theatre Catalog, c. 1911

Southern Seating Company, New Orleans.

Theatre Seating Catalog, No. 99E, c. 1920s

Distributed by W.T. Moore & Co., New Orleans for Heywood-Wakefield. Wakefield, Massachusetts.

& In the Garden Library. . .

Roccheggiani, Lorenzo

Invenzioni diversi di mobile ed utensili sacri e profane per usi comuni della vita. Milan, 1811.

Wiedorn, William (1896-1988)

Hidden Garden. Undated. Graphite and Ink on Paper. William S. Wiedorn Collection, SEAA

Unknown Makers

Garden Seats illustrated in Gertrude Jekyll’s Garden Ornament. London, 1918.

Style of Adam, Robert (1728-1792)

Chair illustrated in Minga Pope Duryea’s Gardens in and about Town. New York, c. 1923.

Faux Bois

As illustrated in Edward Sprague Rand, Jr.’s Garden Flowers: How to Cultivate Them. A Treatise on the Culture of Hardy Ornamental Trees, Shrubs, Annuals, Herbaceous and Bedding Plants. Boston, 1866.

Image above: Detail, 1957 EMECO Catalog. Courtesy EMECO.