Chair thumbnail 1
Chair thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Chair

ca. 1926 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Radical German design thinking in the 1920s focused on social improvement, and furniture designers experimented with designs that would suit the new compact workers' housing being built in several cities. The Bauhaus was not the only design school exploring these ideas but it was the most famous. Erich Dieckmann, who designed this chair, was a student at the Bauhaus between 1921 and 1925, and the influence of his peer, Marcel Breuer, is evident in the intersection of lines and planes in this chair. In 1925 the Bauhaus moved from Weimar to Dessau but Dieckmann remained and headed the furniture workshop at the renamed Bauhochschule. Shortly afterwards, he designed this chair as part of a modular range of furniture, intended to be manufactured using machined standard components.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
Oak with caning
Brief description
Chair, designed by Erich Dieckmann, made by the Bauhochschule, Weimar, about 1926, oak with cane upholstery
Physical description
Oak chair with caned seat. Two slats on the back of the chair.
Dimensions
  • Height: 81cm
  • Width: 44cm
  • Depth: 51.2cm
  • Of seat height: 45cm
CW 28.1.10
Style
Gallery label
Chair and armchair Designed by Erich Dieckmann (German, 1896-1944) Manufactured by the Bauhochschule, Weimar, Germany Oak with leather or cane upholstery About 1926 The Bauhochschule was the art school in Weimar which succeeded the Bauhuas, when it moved to Dessau in 1925. W.16 & 17-1979(1989-2006)
Summary
Radical German design thinking in the 1920s focused on social improvement, and furniture designers experimented with designs that would suit the new compact workers' housing being built in several cities. The Bauhaus was not the only design school exploring these ideas but it was the most famous. Erich Dieckmann, who designed this chair, was a student at the Bauhaus between 1921 and 1925, and the influence of his peer, Marcel Breuer, is evident in the intersection of lines and planes in this chair. In 1925 the Bauhaus moved from Weimar to Dessau but Dieckmann remained and headed the furniture workshop at the renamed Bauhochschule. Shortly afterwards, he designed this chair as part of a modular range of furniture, intended to be manufactured using machined standard components.
Associated object
W.17-1979 (Ensemble)
Collection
Accession number
W.16-1979

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Record createdJanuary 24, 2008
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