Cees Braakman
I know what these are and I like them. But apparently this person does not know. They are OBVIOUSLY not Bertoia. With its quality and nice design seems like this person would seek out the designer. They are obviously good and obviously worthy of research. People just tend to think EVERYTHING is by the same 5 or 6 famous designers for Knoll and HM. If it were a set of 4-6 I'd be on it. These are too hard to find in the US to buy just 2.
I actually love the Mulhauser lounge and ottoman. He designer the coconut chair fro George Nelson too ... a very worthy designer. BUT - it's worth what it's worth ... and that is NOT 3K!
it is insane
it is all the popularity of the designer !!! truly there is no reason some of the great designers of the mid century should sell for a little nothing, while Eames worn out, tired,overproduced,broken,chair should sell for 20 percent of a new one that you can order from Herman Miller and have it in 2 weeks delivered to your front door. .....simply amazing at best....
670 flaws
please dont take this personally. thats all i ask, it is just my opinion. there is three problems that i have with this design, two i consider major. the worst is the engineering from the seat to the lower back. the entire back structure is cantalievered off the seat at a more or less 90 degree angle and held by two relatively small metal brackets and their shockmounts. that this configuration is problematic is evidenced by the cottage industries around that specialize in repairing these chairs when this system fails and the chair breaks in half which is fairly common. there is also an inconsistancy with the hiding this attachment by having the armrests wrap down over them but having the upper and lower back connection exposed and part of the visual design. one of the hallmarks of this period of modernism has been visual honesty in materials and construction methods and this chair follows this with the connection of the upper shells but not the lower. i can forgive the mechanical and philosophical flaws more easily in a truly revolutionary design like the LCW but this chair, although it is visually distinctive, is borrowed single direction plywood bending technology from aalto, breuer and earlier. so if i am seeing it as not a mechanical advancement in design, then it should at least have been engineered well and honestly. the third reason is more personal. i am 6 feet tall and for me this chair does not have a head rest at all. i feel any lounge chair that is both pitched back this far and has an ottoman should have a head rest. the cut off seems to be about 5 foot 6 in. for the top shell to be a head rest. if i scoot my butt all the way forward then i get the head rest but the posture is terrible. perhaps we were much shorter in 1956? i doubt that much though.
By An Amazing
By an amazing coincidence, I have just picked up a Plycfraft Milhauser chair here in the UK ..for not very much money..about 70 USD..and they MUST be rare here ..
Without this thread, I would have had no idea what it was
i'll post pics in a couple of hours when it arrives here..
It's in the pale yellow leather :o)
oh yes
and the mulhauser chair does not have these mechanical flaws with the exception of the very early bases failing (mine did, thats why i found it in the trash). plycraft and mulhauser changed the base design fairly quickly though. did 670s not start failing till after eames died? its not the case that he would not change a problematic issues in one of his designs. he did it on other ones. also the mulhauser chair does not have the height issues. It is my belief that there are far more psychological issues at play in the appreciation of the 670 than its inherent design or engineering qualities and thats fine but i am pretty sure these issues would not be easily tolerated in a scandinavian piece. and i am not spoiling from the outside. i have a 670, but when i get the bases fixed on my mulhauser, ego and cash value be dammed! the 670 will get replaced.
Reply from the seller
Here's what I got as a reply when I contacted the seller of the piece that started the thread. I asked him/her questions about provenance and maker's marks:
"Basically this auction is a test. I will relist until I hear from someone in the right class such as this piece and who actually know the work. - I knew I would hear from the usual bargain/discount class as well and that is fine. Thank you for your interest."
I really don't know what that means, but I didn't get any real information. Looking like they're fishing or scamming.
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