Lot Essay
Breuer's first version of this design was produced in 1922 and refined in 1924 to the present form. A former student of the Bauhaus has recalled that each new arrival at the school was set the task of recreating the work, under the stern tutelage of Breuer himself, who was then in charge of the furniture workshop. Consequently the chair was produced in considerable numbers - 26 are recorded as having been produced between the summer of 1924 and March 1925.
The dimensions of the present chair are identical to within 5mm of both the cherry wood example in the Victoria and Albert Museum London, and the oak examples both at the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
See: Bauhaus Archiv, Museum fr Gestaltung, pp. 90/91, no. 153.
Experiment Bauhaus, exh. cat., no. 99, p. 102.
Droste and Ludewig, pp. 46/47.
See also: Christie's New York, 1 October 1983, lot 199, (example de-accessioned by the Museum of Modern Art); Christie's London, 30 April 1985, lot 159; Christie's London, 13 July 1988, lot 178, comparable examples sold.
The dimensions of the present chair are identical to within 5mm of both the cherry wood example in the Victoria and Albert Museum London, and the oak examples both at the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
See: Bauhaus Archiv, Museum fr Gestaltung, pp. 90/91, no. 153.
Experiment Bauhaus, exh. cat., no. 99, p. 102.
Droste and Ludewig, pp. 46/47.
See also: Christie's New York, 1 October 1983, lot 199, (example de-accessioned by the Museum of Modern Art); Christie's London, 30 April 1985, lot 159; Christie's London, 13 July 1988, lot 178, comparable examples sold.