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

Armchair

ca. 1930 (made)
Artist/Maker
Maclaren, Denham (designer)
Place of origin
London (made)

This chair makes innovative use of industrial glass and metal fittings. The metal fittings are of a type more commonly used in shop fitting. In the late 1920s Denham Maclaren worked for the interior decorator Arundell Clarke. He undertook display and exhibition work for them. This experience may have led him to experiment with glass as a material for furniture. Maclaren's chair was not only fashionable in its use of glass, but also in the choice of zebra skin upholstery. Many designers used animal skins of all kinds between the First and Second World Wars. The use of zebra added an exotic, even Surrealist, touch.


Object details

Categories
Furniture
Black History
SCRAN
Object type
Armchair
Materials and techniques
Glass, metal fittings, and zebra skin upholstery
Glass
Zebra Skin
Metal
Upholstery
Brief description
Armchair,with sides of thick, industrial glass, metal fittings, with zebra skin upholstery, Denham Maclaren, England [London], ca. 1930.
Physical description
Armchair, with sides of thick industrial glass, metal fittings, and zebra skin upholstery
Dimensions
  • Height: 68cm
  • Width: 57cm
  • Depth: 85cm
  • Weight: 57kg
Style
Art Deco
Gallery label
  • DENHAM MACLAREN (English [London], 1903-1989) CHAIR, c. 1930 Glass, metal fittings, zebra skin upholstery Made around 1930, this chair was acquired from the designer only in 1979, so illustrating the Museum's retrospective collecting of earlier 20th century objects at this period. Although Denham Maclaren designed only a relatively small quantity of furniture from the late 1920s to the end of the 1930s, he of all British designers captured the spirit of contemporary European modernism. He followed the functionalist precepts of Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, and most of his furniture was constructed of steel and glass. Reflecting the glamour of Hollywood of the period, this chair tempers the austerity of modernism with sophisticated wit.(1999)
  • Maclaren designed furniture for Arundell Display from 1926-30, before opening his own showrooms in London. Although he used materials in new ways, he did not investigate their structural possibilities like the functionalist wing of modern design. The glass in this chair follows the conventional format of heh chair. It is in this sense that the chair belongs to the 'Moderne'.(pre February 2000)
  • Maclaren designed furniture for Arundell Display from 1926-30, before opening his own showrooms in London. Most of his furniture was constructed of steel and glass. Reflecting the glamour of Hollywood, this chair tempers the austerity of modernism with sophisticated wit.(February 2000)
Summary
This chair makes innovative use of industrial glass and metal fittings. The metal fittings are of a type more commonly used in shop fitting. In the late 1920s Denham Maclaren worked for the interior decorator Arundell Clarke. He undertook display and exhibition work for them. This experience may have led him to experiment with glass as a material for furniture. Maclaren's chair was not only fashionable in its use of glass, but also in the choice of zebra skin upholstery. Many designers used animal skins of all kinds between the First and Second World Wars. The use of zebra added an exotic, even Surrealist, touch.
Bibliographic references
  • Wilk, Christopher, ed. . Western Furniture 1350 to the Present Day. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1996. 230p., ill. ISBN 085667463X.
  • Baker, Malcolm, and Brenda Richardson (eds.), A Grand Design: The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London: V&A Publications, 1999.
Collection
Furniture and Woodwork Collection
Accession number
W.26-1979

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Record createdMay 1, 2001
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O58653/armchair-maclaren-denham/
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