In 1936 Frank Lloyd Wright designed an office in a Pittsburgh department store for its owner, Edgar Kaufmann. The room was lined with plywood faced with swamp cypress veneer and the same finish was used for the furniture. This is one of three armchairs that sat around a built-in desk, below a wall decoration made from low-relief diagonal and right-angular plywood panels. The wall relief was echoed in the shape of the armchairs, which were essentially cubes with diagonally-cut rear corners, and embellished with plywood strips. The wooden walls, ceiling, floor and furniture were offset by the pale cream upholstery and carpet, enlivened with hints of lemon yellow, also designed by Wright and woven by Loja Saarinen.

Edgar Kaufmann used the office for two decades until his death in 1955. The whole office, with its furnishings, was presented to the V&A in 1974 by his son, Edgar Kaufmann Jr.