Wendell Castle Red Fiberglass "Castle Chair"
View Similar Items
Wendell Castle Red Fiberglass "Castle Chair"
About the Item
- Creator:Wendell Castle (Artist)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 22 in (55.88 cm)Width: 47 in (119.38 cm)Depth: 38.5 in (97.79 cm)
- Style:Post-Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1969
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Some scuffs.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: 1015-51stDibs: 15050610758237
Molar Chair
As its name suggests, the playful silhouette of the Molar chair can be attributed to an unmistakable visual inspiration: the curves and cusps that characterize the clusters of large teeth tucked in the back corners of our mouths. Kansas-born furniture maker and educator Wendell Castle (1932–2018) began to create his singular series of Molar sofas and more in 1968, when he designed his biomorphic Molar chair.
Moved by the experiments that Danish designer Verner Panton and others had been conducting with synthetic materials, Castle’s “back tooth” seat and other early designs for the collection were comprised of glass-reinforced polyester and gel-coated plastics, but his fascination with organic forms began years earlier — with wood.
A major figure of the American Studio movement, Castle boldly bridged art and furnishings like no one before him. He attended the University of Kansas for industrial design and eventually earned his MFA in sculpture in the late 1950s. In his years as a student, Castle longed to create seating and other furniture that could also be considered art, even when an instructor told him he should return to sculpture upon reviewing a cabinet he designed. His whimsical Stool Sculpture in 1959, which earned him critical acclaim and later gained a place in international exhibitions, tested the boundaries between function and fine art, while his college-era sketchbooks full of abstract designs would inform his woodworking in the years that followed.
Castle found inspiration from woodworkers such as Wharton Esherick and George Nakashima, and utilized the stack-laminate technique — in which thin sheets of wood are layered in stacks, glued together and then smoothed and cut into desired shapes before carving. This allowed him to add mass and depth to his ambiguous and venturesome work. By the mid-1960s, however, while teaching woodworking at the Rochester Institute of Technology, he temporarily tired of wood and instead wanted to introduce color and delve into the potential that other materials could afford.
Castle’s Molar chair as well as the other biomorphic seating he designed at the time emphasized playfulness and an experimental sensibility. “I’m trying to get furniture off its legs and to be itself,” Castle told Newsweek. Before he would return to wood in the 1970s following a liberating period of working with synthetics, “the father of the art furniture movement” produced cloud-shaped shelves, cabinets that resembled starfish and several hundred other fascinating pieces.
Wendell Castle
Wendell Castle was an American furniture maker celebrated for his experimental creations in wood and plastic. He was one of the first to create seating, lighting and tables that resemble sculpture, otherwise known as art furniture.
A founding father of the American Studio movement, Castle was known for his craftsmanship and broke new ground in the 1960s with the stack-laminate technique, which involves layering and then sanding thin sheets of wood. In the ’70s, he transitioned to using gel-coated plastic in bright colors.
Castle integrated both mediums in his designs from the 2000s, which, like his vintage pieces, are characterized by curved, biomorphic lines and whimsical undertones (his Molar chair emphasized playfulness and a venturesome sensibility). Ever the innovator, he integrated computers and robots in his later production process to come up with wildly imaginative forms. Castle was working on a new body of work when he passed away in 2018 at the age of 85.
Find a collection of original Wendell Castle furniture on 1stDibs.
- Pair of Faux Parchment Lacquered ArmchairsBy Karl SpringerLocated in New York, NYEach finely lacquered in an ivory faux parchment finish and of neoclassical form with downward scrolling arms; raised on sabre legs headed by stop fluting; t...Category
20th Century American Post-Modern Armchairs
MaterialsVelvet, Lacquer
$4,000 / set - Queen Anne Style Mahogany Child's ChairLocated in New York, NYThe tall back with vasiform backsplat issuing outscrolled armrests; with drop-in seat newly covered in a Mario Buatta trellis fabric; the seat rail centered by a shell over cabriole ...Category
20th Century American Queen Anne Armchairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Mahogany
- Unusual Pair of Belgian Hand-Tied Bough Side ChairsLocated in New York, NYWhimsical and rare. Constructed of stacked hand-tied boughs.Category
Antique 19th Century Belgian Chinoiserie Side Chairs
MaterialsTwig
- A George IV Walnut and Suede Library ArmchairLocated in New York, NYThe rectangular slanted back upholstered with tufted suede with nailhead trim, issuing padded armrests terminating in scrolls; the suede overupholstered seat over a deep seat rail; r...Category
Antique 1820s British George IV Armchairs
MaterialsSuede, Walnut
- Custom Tufted Wool-Upholstered ArmchairLocated in New York, NYThe back with outward scrolling crest, issuing low outward scrolling arms; the serpentine-fronted seat rail over a tailored skirt; upholstered in a two-toned olive green woven chevro...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Edwardian Armchairs
MaterialsWool, Wood
- Pair of William IV Rosewood and Brass-Inlaid ArmchairsBy George BullockLocated in New York, NYEach upholstered back with arched crest rail centered by a brass-inlaid shell issuing foliate sprays; the over-upholstered seat with shaped sear rail centered by a sheet sheath; rais...Category
Antique 1830s English William IV Armchairs
MaterialsBrass
- Wendell Castle Purple "Castle Chair"By Wendell CastleLocated in LOS ANGELES, CAPurple fiberglass castle chair from Wendell Castle's iconic Molar Series.Category
Vintage 1960s American Post-Modern Chairs
MaterialsFiberglass
- Child’s Size Wendell Castle Fiberglass Molar ChairBy Wendell CastleLocated in Jensen Beach, FLUncommon child’s size version of Wendell Castle’s iconic Molar chair. Executed in fiberglass and red gel coat. Sprite can shown for scale.Category
Mid-20th Century Chairs
MaterialsFiberglass
- Wendell Castle Accent ChairBy Wendell Castle, Arc InternationalLocated in Chicago, ILWendell castle accent or desk chair. Upholstered in a sky-blue mohair. Sculptural and carved lines.Category
Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Armchairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Maple
- Wendell Castle ChairsBy Wendell CastleLocated in Kansas City, MOWendell castle chairs. Price is for each. Purple chair dimensions: 25 in. D x 20 in. W x 33 in. H x 19 in. Seat heightCategory
1990s American Modern Chairs
MaterialsBrass, Steel
$6,500 / item - Postmodern Wendell Castle White Fiberglass "Castle Chair"By Wendell CastleLocated in West Chester, PAThis striking mid century modern Wendell Castle lounge chair was designed and produced circa 1969. Similar to Castle’s Molar chair, the whimsical, o...Category
Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFiberglass
- Molar Chairs by Wendell CastleBy Wendell CastleLocated in Los Angeles, CAThree Molar chairs by Wendell Castle, USA, 1969. Gel-coated fiberglass and vinyl, in great condition. This work is part of the open-editioned Molar series and the model registered with the artist's studio as number 13. Can be purchased as a set of three (3) for $18,000, or individually for $6000 each. Provenance: Helen Drutt...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsFiberglass
$4,800 Sale Price / item20% Off
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
In Christopher Spitzmiller’s New York Homes, His Love of Dogs Is on Full Display
The ceramist, designer and gentleman farmer tells us about the collection of antique dog art he has spread across a New York City apartment and a Greek Revival farmhouse in the Hudson Valley.
High-Society Hijinks Fill the Imagination of Illustrator Tug Rice
The Pennsylvania-born, New York–based artist's whimsical creations affectionately satirize the foibles of his fellow Upper East Siders.