Not on display

Armchair

1929 (designed), after 1934 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This chair, by the celebrated Finnish designer of modernist furniture, Alvar Aalto, is from a design first produced in 1929, although this example must date from after 1934. It has a birch frame with laminated plywood seat and back. Aalto's furniture was manufactured in Turku in Finland and this model featured in the 1929 Turku 7th Centenary Exhibition. A year later it appeared in the Minimum Apartment Exhibition in Helsinki.

Aalto’s furniture was imported into Britain by the company Finmar. This company was founded in 1934 by Philip Morton Shand and Geoffrey Boumphrey following the success of an exhibition of Aalto furniture that they had arranged the previous year. It was sold to progressive furniture retailers such as Heal's and Bowman's and was used in both domestic and public buildings.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Birch and birch plywood
Brief description
Armchair of solid birch and birch plywood, stained black
Physical description
Armchair, of solid birch and birch plywood, stained black. The square-sectioned legs and plain seat rails are in solid birch, the back legs continuing as shaped, forward-sloping uprights for a continuous curved top rail which forms both arms and back. A curving back panel of plywood is set between this top rail and the similarly curved back seat rail, where it runs in a groove. Narrow uprights of solid birch edge the back panel. The plywood seat panel is fixed over the seat rails at the front and sides and set into the curving seat rail at the back.
Dimensions
  • Height: 70cm
  • Width: 51cm
  • Depth: 54cm
Dimensions taken from Design Market website. https://www.design-market.co/166566-vintage-armchair-model-215-by-alvar-aalto-for-finmar-finland-1930.html?redirected=true
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • ‘FINMAR / DESIGN REG / 787811-19 / MADE IN FINLAND’. (Plate on underside, recording the name of the firm which imported Aalto's furniture into Britain)
  • ‘BOWMAN BROS LTD / COMPLETE / HOUSE FURNISHINGS / CAMDEN TOWN / LONDON N.W.1.’ (Name of retailer in Britain)
Production
Although the model was first launched in 1929, the retailer's label on this chair indicates that it was not sold (and therefore probably not made) until after 1934
Subjects depicted
Summary
This chair, by the celebrated Finnish designer of modernist furniture, Alvar Aalto, is from a design first produced in 1929, although this example must date from after 1934. It has a birch frame with laminated plywood seat and back. Aalto's furniture was manufactured in Turku in Finland and this model featured in the 1929 Turku 7th Centenary Exhibition. A year later it appeared in the Minimum Apartment Exhibition in Helsinki.

Aalto’s furniture was imported into Britain by the company Finmar. This company was founded in 1934 by Philip Morton Shand and Geoffrey Boumphrey following the success of an exhibition of Aalto furniture that they had arranged the previous year. It was sold to progressive furniture retailers such as Heal's and Bowman's and was used in both domestic and public buildings.
Collection
Accession number
W.53-1977

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdNovember 27, 2006
Record URL
Download as: JSON