Siège à Dossier Basculant (No. B301)
Design Date 1928–1929
Designer Charlotte Perriand (1903–1999, French), Le Corbusier (1887–1965, French, b. Switzerland), & Pierre Jeanneret (1896–1967, Swiss)
Manufacturer Stendig, Switzerland
Media chrome-plated tubular steel and leather upholstery
Dimensions 25 x 25 x 25 1/4 inches
This adjustable-back armchair made of metal tubing and leather upholstery resembles the tubular steel Wassily Chair designed by Marcel Breuer in 1925 (also represented in Kirkland Museum’s collection). Charlotte Perriand was hired in 1927 by Le Corbusier to design furniture, or “equipment” as he called it, for his architectural projects. She designed a series of furniture, including this chair, with the help of Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, for “Villa Church,” a residence for Henry Church, an American expat living in Paris. The tubular metal frame exemplified Le Corbusier’s idea of the “machine for living” and was adapted from the traditional colonel chair. Le Corbusier encouraged this comparison by exhibiting the Basculant Chair next to a 19th-century colonel chair in Paris student housing he designed.
ON VIEW in Bauhaus Gallery 5
Markings Oval-shaped sticker on bottom, "ORIGINAL DESIGN STENDIG MADE IN SWITZERLAND"
Credit Line Collection Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art
Accession Number 2007.0683
