Prototype Henry Glass Folding Chair

Prototype folding chair of tubular metal with plastic ball caps and its original yellow mesh fabric sling dating to the late 1950’s or early 1960’s. By architect and designer Henry Glass, an Austrian emigre who worked with Gilbert Rohde in New York City in the late 1930’s and then studied in Chicago with Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. Glass was ahead of his time in his concerns with pre-fabrication, modularity, affordability, and ecological responsibility. He was known for his knock-down furniture designs–chairs and tables that folded, nested, or stacked for easy mobility and space-saving flexibility. Austere and visually interesting, these designs utilized inexpensive materials such as plywood, masonite, tubular steel, and canvas. The present piece, never produced, channels Gerrit Rietveld in proposing a low-cost mid-century outdoor chair...

Chair with tilting seat back in solid birch with a vintage seat cushion fabric. A winning entry by Ann Hatfield and Martin Craig in the seminal MoMA 1941...

This Robert Whitton prototype chair, crafted entirely from aluminum, is a striking piece of usable art, blurring the lines between sculpture and functional furniture. Designed in the...

Unattributed, rare, late 20th century prototype chair. Formed from a steel frame supporting a high tension strap that provides a back rest and seat wit...