Set of four rare Gerald Summers high back chairs

A trained engineer, Gerald Summers (1899–1967) soon turned his sights to the emerging production of plywood furniture. He became a highly regarded designer and was asked to furnish Hampstead’s Isokon Building, an icon of modernist thinking which counted Bauhaus leaders Marcel Breuer, Walter Gropius and László Moholy-Nagy as early residents. This remarkable chair was designed in 1936, five years after he founded his company, Makers of Simple Furniture, with wife Marjorie Butcher.

Far rarer than Summers’ ply lounge chair, which is held in collection of the V&A, this imposing design is sheathed in a single piece of plywood that curves to form the seat, fanned high back and distinctive feet. A front panel with a high arch completes the frame at a visible dovetail joint. This hugely special set is stamped to the upper surface of the seat, which has been reupholstered in black wool. The design is deceptively lightweight thanks to 1.5mm aeroplane ply. 

Structurally sound, with some flexing to the plywood back and minor chips to ply layers. Four available in total.

H103 W44 D37cm

J189/J190