Cassina manufacturing serial number  

LC numbers
While the numbers stampted on a LC models produced by Cassina are progressive,since the production is unlimited and continuous, it virtually impossible to precisely date the production of a chair by the number. Instead,numbers of the the original Heidi Weber production (1959 to 1965) in Switzerland were carefully registered by the meticulous Mrs. Weber because the quantities involved were relatively small. Moreover,the Swiss workmanship was noticely superior and the detailing was different. The Heidi Weber models were competely faithful to Le Corbusier's original drawings and were personally approved by Le Corbusier as the standard for future productions. The Cassina models which began to be produced in 1964 were similar in proportion to the Heidi Weber models but Mrs. Weber, who supervised the development of the Cassina prototypes permitted the use of less costly materials and incorporated cost saving features. Consequently, they are more commercial. The upper tubular structure of the Weber chaise longue was of one piece whereas the Cassina chaise was divided in two parts which greatly reduced he cost of the nichel and chome plating. The base was of authentic oval airplane tube obtained from a Swiss manufacturer of airplanes. The Cassina base is of ordinary, rather flat oval tube which is readily available on the market. The springs supporting the mattress of the Weber chaise were of harmonic steel crisscrossed. Cassina first began by using pairs of steel springs covered by rubber to form straps placed horizontally. Moreover after 1978 Cassina began to change the models in a way that Le Corbusier had explicitly prohibited and to attribute models to Le Corbusier tha he hadn't designed. Le Corbusier had categorically forbidden the transformation of his Grand Confort armchair into a sofa. Heidi Weber Publicly protested saying that these falsely attributed sofas were "plagiarisms." Heidi Weber in letters protesting to the Le Corbusir Foundation of Paris wrote that many of the "copies" of the Corbu furniture are more faithful to the original designs than the supposed "originals" of Cassina.