Egon Reiss was a Viennese architect who escaped from Nazi Austria in the late 1930s, and came to live at the Lawn Road Flats, after the departure of Gropius and Breuer for America in 1937. Apart from doing various odd jobs at the flats, he also produced several designs for Isokon, including the above.
The appeal of the 'Donkey' (so named because it had four legs and two panniers), was quickly recognised by Allen Lane of Penguin books, who generously offered to produce 100,000 advertising flyers for inclusion in his books. The initial production of 100 sold out quickly, and further production was halted with the advent of the war. A Mark II version of the Donkey was designed by Ernest Race after the war.