By Pierre Jeanneret
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Upholstered teak daybed by Pierre Jeanneret from the Chandigarh furniture program, circa 1957–1958, with a contemporary dark taupe shearling pad and cylindrical bolster. The long reclining plane is supported by a low frame with emphatic compass-form ends.
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.
Broad angled members spread toward the floor at each end, while a low longitudinal stretcher links the supports beneath the seat. The timber rail remains exposed below the padding, preserving the separation between the vintage base and the current soft furnishing. The rounded bolster rests above the otherwise uninterrupted horizontal plane.
The side rail retains painted “PGIMER” lettering followed by inventory number “116” above a line, with “2” below. PGIMER identifies Chandigarh’s Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, established in 1962. The paint records later institutional use of the daybed and adds a particular medical-institute association to the history of this frame.
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.
A related Chandigarh daybed...
Category
Vintage 1950s Indian Mid-Century Modern Daybeds