I discovered a Breuer Wassily chair in chocolate brown leather. The chrome needs some polishing and the leather shows al little wear and tear. I paid $180.
On the bottom of the leather seat, there is a small sticker that says "Stendig". Google tells me that Stendig used to import European furniture until the 80s.
Can anyone tell me
a) if Stendig used to import originals only, i.e. no knock-offs or reproductions, and
b) from what area/decade/manufacturer (Knoll, Gavina) this chair may be?
Thanks everyone!
All i know is that Stendig...
All i know is that Stendig is the manufacturer and that they were good repros. Thonet was the original manufacturer of the Wassily from what I understand, and as always Knoll is considered 'original' for whatever reason. A friend of mine has a pair and they are very nice. Nice find. BTW - I spared you my usual remark. I'm donw now 😉
For what it is worth...
It is amazing indeed how Knoll manages to claim "originality" left, right and center. Stendig was the very first importer of the Wassily and Cesca chairs and a few other Breuer tables when they were "revived" in the early 60ties. (produced by Gavina). I do not think that it is easy to date them because they have been importing the same chaires from the same supplier ever since.
You might be interested to know that the ones that are part of the permanent collection of the MoMA in N.Y. (since the late 60ties) are the chairs and tables from Stendig.
The Early history of both the Cesca and the Wassily, the involvement of Thonet and several others, the public fights over patent rights etc. makes the early history legendary and un-clear. In coming to the United States Marcel Breuer tried to leave more behind him than nazi-germany. I am not sure about the Wassily but I know (I have a copy) that he redid the drawings for the Cesca for Knoll. My understanding has always been that after leaving Germany, he and other Bauhaus people had very little respect for agreements made in there former home-land. Remember, Weimar was East-Germany and the cold war was at it's coldest. Which explains to some extend that we now have Breuer chairs produced in Germany by one of the very first pre-war producers, claiming...and rightly so, that they produced them ever since the late twenties.(They might have interupted between 1940 and 45 to put on a uniform and visit a few other countries)
Thanks koen, but...
you say "they (Stendig) have been importing the same chairs from the same supplier ever since"...
That's exactly my question: Who is the supplier??
I understand that Stendig imported them, but who MADE them, and where were they made? Was it Gavina in the 60s and then somebody else later on or what?
It was...
Gavina when they started and it still is. To my knowledge Stendig never produced them. The Gavina production has always been consistent, which makes it difficult to "date" particular chair. I would think that it does not matter because other than the few that actually furnished the "Meisterhaus" of the "Bauhaus" campus, the others have little historical value.
identifying a wassily chair
I have been searching the web, trying to find info on identifying a pair of Wassily chairs I have found in South America, they seem to be correct, but I do not think that they are knoll.
They have numbers on the base, where the tubes join, either side of the two slot head screws, one has the number 6 twice, the other chair a single 8.
They are slung with a vinyl, which I presume was a replacement, because, the chairs look right, they have some age and enough wear to be at least 60's, if not earlier, the tube is fine, not heavy and they have allen type fastners on the joints.
I don't know the original measurements, but they just look correct, even with the vinyl...
Any ideas?
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