By Pierre Jeanneret
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Low teak daybed by Pierre Jeanneret from the Chandigarh furniture program, circa 1957–1958, presented with contemporary green mohair upholstery and a matching cylindrical bolster. The long, narrow platform rests on open compass-form timber supports.
Jeanneret’s furniture formed part of the larger architectural project of Chandigarh, the new city developed in post-independence India. Alongside desks, chairs and storage furniture, his daybeds addressed the quieter activities of rest and informal seating. Their generous horizontal surfaces were supported by a practical timber framework made with local craftsmen. The design gives an everyday furnishing the clarity of a small architectural structure, with its proportions, visible joints and open spaces establishing a close relationship between useful construction and sculptural form.
At each end, the inclined legs spread outward beneath the rectangular seat rail. A low stretcher links the two ends, leaving the space below the platform open and emphasizing the daybed’s elongated silhouette. The soft mohair surface introduces a rich green tone against the brown teak without concealing the angular structure.
Surviving paint on the side rail reads “CCS HAU/B. Hostel,” followed by inventory numerals. CCS HAU identifies Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University in Hisar, Haryana; the hostel designation records an association with its residential inventory. The university adopted the Chaudhary Charan Singh name in 1991, so this wording represents a later chapter in the frame’s institutional life rather than the date of its design.
The vintage teak retains variations in grain, color and surface wear, with softened edges and individual traces of use visible in the photographs. These details give the woodwork its material character and preserve the sense of a furnishing made for daily life in institutional or residential interiors. The present upholstery is a later treatment of the vintage structure.
For a related Chandigarh daybed...
Category
1950s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Asian Seating