Found a vintage one today ... hope it hasn't sold. Before I purchase I wanted to ask the fellow DAs about how to authenticate it. There are no labels. ALSO - the wicker will need to be redone. Along the right seam there is a not-so-well-done repair. How much do you think a recaning is? So, how do you know who made it? It looks vintage for sure as the wicker is worn and darker with age. It is spot on for as much as I can tell. Would it be Thonet? Knoll? Anything else? It is only $80 but should the repair needs scare me off?
it is more than likely is ...
it is more than likely is a mr20 chair designed in 1926.
more than likely it was made by Gorden in 1955 to 66 in NYC
What i would do , that would be real easy is get rid of the wicker and make you two leather pieces one in the back and the seat area, very easy to and not expensive, any shop can do for you just get a picture then you would have a great accent chair.
LRF
"Gorden in 1955 to 66 in NYC"
All I have heard about this series of chairs is the manufacturers Thonet, Stendig and Knoll. If this is true about Gorden can you tell me a little about the manufacturing history of this chair, or is there a good online source?
good idea about the leather, and I thought about it. BUT - after getting this chair home it looks gorgeous in the rattan. LRF - I know you redo furniture often ... what would it take to simply repair it? I will upload photos later. I wonder if only the broken strands could be redone and somehow stained to match the older pieces.
Personally, I prefer the rattan. I have not always been huge on the black leather/chrome combo so prevalent to Bauhaus pieces. If I did use leather I would use tan perhaps.
In addition - what do you know about its value? I wouldn't want to damage the value by a) recaning completely instead of repairing b) or changing the material into something else (leather).
Are the Gorden manufactured ones worth anything? What makes you think it is Gorden? Are they known for no labels? This chair isn't nearly as popular as other Mies' designs. It's hard for me to think it is fake given its age especially. Thanks for your help.
I have no idea if Thonet ...
I have no idea if Thonet made any of the Mies reproductions . so it very well could be made by knoll,
Gordon made a lot of Mies chairs mostly Barcelona, and Brno in the 60's and that is what you see around with old Barcelonas and Brnos from the 60's that were made by them ,
They had a legal rift with knoll and halted production of the mies Pieces by the early 70's when the Italians got involved and started makeing the chrome versions,
i thought that chair being designed by Mies could have been in the Gordon reproduction line from the 60's also if you like the wicker keep it, you would spent around 300 for the hard leather with the straps but the cool thing is you can do that in any color you want , but you can do that any time you want.
just enjoy your nice find.
Images
As you can see here, every other thread (only one one side) is broken. Since every other one is fine, you can sit in it. Although, understandably, it does cause me concern when resting my tush. Only for looking right now!
Here are two images showing you the connections where the arms meet the legs. I noticed on the Knoll productions the connectors are more shallow making the arm more seemless with the legs. However, I noticed on the Stendig versions I found online, they are more like mine, a little further apart.
Lastly, this is a photo of the overall design.
I tried to look very closely at the Architonic image of this chair...
to see if this chair and the Architonic chair were identical in the frame construction. Perhaps it is one of those angle of the photo issues, but it looks as if the fastener used to join the arm bar to the leg bar near the lower front of the chair is significantly longer on the rattan chair than on the one pictured in Architonic. Not sure if this matters a whit to the assessment of who may have made the chair, but I'm mentioning it just in case. Again, maybe its just the angle of the photos, too.
the real story
To answer your earlier question Gordon made lots of Mies Funrniture as repoductions in the late 50's to t he the early 70's then they got into some legal problems with Knoll who aquired the Mies rights in the 50's .
I do know for a f act that Thonet did make that chair starting in November 1931 it was designed by Mies with Lilly Reich and they called it the the L R chair , It was changed into the MR 533 by Thonet and they sold thousands of those chairs for Mies . so if you are lucky you might have one of the early day ones made in Amsterdam were they were located. They also made a chair that was so close designed by Marcel Breuer you would think that they were fraternal twins cause they are similar but a little different . Mies got his patents in before Breuer and his chair went in to production first , Thonet in the 20 to 40's was the company to be with as they made all tubular chairs by Breuer. Mies, Le corbusier as they were Run by a designer who had a great tubular chair him self named Anton Lorenzo who today Thonet still makes his chairs.
Whitespike
Looking at your pictures i think you have a real vintage classic , and i would let no one sit their ass in that chair as it looks like it will split apart, if you have no intention of fixing it (and i would not) I would just consider that i found a early day Thonet a needle in a haystack put it a corner and enjoy looking at it . with no butt traffic.....
If I cannot use it I will...
If I cannot use it I will sell it. What do you think this is worth LRF? I don't have a big enough house to have chairs I don't use. Would it be better to sell it as is?
I may send my photos to Wright Auctions. I have seen these chairs go as as little as 125 and as much as 12K! Doubt mine is old enough for that but it never hurts to find out.
Honestly if I sell it I will buy another one worth less (if it is indeed worth a good bit). It's a lot more enjoyable than I figured it would be.
whitspike 3
As i tell all my customers don't ever worry about ruining the value of a chair if you recover it. The only chairs that you do not want to recover are the early day prototypes made by the designers that were usually made in a Garage or early day factory, as those chairs bring the big bucks at the auctions ,
If you can get that chair regained for several 100 dollars in your home town go for it as it would be great. As I tell everyone Do not worry about the Value of your chair, If their are more than 100 chairs out there just like yours your chair is for shear enjoyment, and you can do what ever you like with it.... as value is in the eyes of the beholder
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