Chairs I've seen lately

Really, what’s one more chair?

Once I had enough of cashmere sweaters, old lady Chanel and earmarked design books, my attention at estate sales pivoted. I was also sick of standing with the ancient old guys looking through Playboys. I had gotten all of the Pam covers anyway.

I became an accent chair kind of girl. Mostly because I could carry them to the car myself. And they’re easier to configure in a tiny space..a chair to greet you at the door, a chair shoved in a hallway corner to display three books and a vase.

Chairs are excellent sale takeaways, you don’t have to entirely commit to the Art Deco living room, but you can take a reasonably sized piece with you.

I don’t want to jinx it but at estate sales (at least in Los Angeles), you almost always are looking at high quality furniture. Obviously if you feel like you can bench press the thing it probably sucks. It was harder to get junk in the past, today we’re drowning in it! Such is life.

It doesn’t always have to be designer, look for the stamp underneath. Made in Denmark is superb, as is made in Finland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Czechoslovakia… If it looks Danish but doesn’t have the stamp, it probably was made in the U.S.

Some tips from my estate sale notes:

Danish: teak, clean lines, nice dovetailed joints

Italian: mixes it up more. Glass, marble, chrome. Bolder, sculptural look

American (Herman Miller/Knoll): the experimental stuff; molded plywood, fiberglass, wire

Life is more fun once you notice med spas all decorate their waiting rooms with fake Barcelona chairs, or the correlation between scammers and their mission to offload a Togo at any given moment.

Some of my favorite afternoons are spent researching a list of who, what and where that I’ve complied throughout the week. I love getting into the weeds with it.

Below are, as the title suggests, some chairs I’ve seen lately. Open houses more often than not showcase some genuinely striking design. I was so excited about a historic 1920s Spanish estate that I almost missed the $30,000 chair in the corner.

(estate sale list is at the end)

1. Mario Botta for Alias, 602 Seconda Chairs (1980s)

The most intimidating chair of all time. Feels like it’s about to turn into a souped up delivery robot and wreak havoc. Botta is an architect and designer. His buildings have a commanding formal character, taking notes from his idols, Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn. From the 20th Century Architecture website, “Botta’s buildings impress through their strong image quality, which might be interpreted as cultural resistance intent on a new order and meaning.”

His furniture leans the same. Where did he want things to go? What does he know that we don’t? I feel like he’s reciting a message from the great beyond.

These chairs really are buildings of their own. I watched a video where a guy said the perforated seat is like windows along a skyscraper but personally I would never say that out loud.

To me, there’s an added depth. Like, if I was stuck on a deserted island and I could bring only one thing, I would consider bringing this chair just because staring at it would truly keep me entertained.

The architectural logic can be felt even by someone with a Restoration Hardware couch (no hate I’m just saying). It’s impressive, and for many that’s enough.

I’d love to see it in one of those quintessential “bachelor pads” that never exists. Or maybe in a Malibu beach house, just sitting there throwing off the vibe.

Cool article about his must see buildings in Switzerland, you really get the gist of his design principles. The guy loves cylinders: https://mostlymuseums.com/mario-botta/

2. George Nakashima, Spindle Lounge Chair with Right Arm (1960s-70s)

You can feel this chair in your bones. On 1st Dibs for $33,785.46. George Nakashima was a Japanese American architect and woodworker. He is considered one of the leading innovators of 20th century furniture design and a father of the American craft movement.

While spending time in Japan, Nakashima worked for Antonin Raymond, the architect who had collaborated with Frank Lloyd Wright on the Imperial Hotel.

In 1940 he returned to the U.S. to teach woodworking. Shortly after he was interned and sent to Camp Minidoka in Hunt, Idaho. During his incarceration he met Gentaro Hikogawa, a master Issei carpenter. From him, Nakashima learned how to work with traditional Japanese hand tools and joinery methods.

In 1943 Antonin Raymond sponsored Nakashima’s release, inviting him to his farm in New Hope, Pennsylvania. That is where Nakashima established his practice, which continues on through his daughter.

I found this chair in the corner of one of two living rooms, inside a giant pink mansion currently on the market for a bit over $5,000,000. Opposite a huge semi circle of a sofa, it was a piece of art.

I would love to see it in a usable way. A grandma’s craft room, because she knew a guy who knew a guy and he just gave the thing to her. The $30,000+ makes it hard to ever want to interact with it. My cat would definitely chew on the arm…This is the piece I want to see on the news, where some 20 year old found one at Goodwill. I think that’s what Nakashima would’ve wanted too.

3. Allan Gould, String Lounge & Ottoman (1950s)

Kinda hate them tbh. I just got out of a poorly executed Rhino class and this feels like the dopey objects we were forced to create. But its the fugly stuff that’s the most intriguing. Its all too obvious, I saw these at a Schindler house in Hollywood. It reminds me of this Schindler designed dining table I’d love to have a craigslist craftsman recreate for me.

You will probably recognize the Compass Chair, created by Gould for Herman Miller (1940s), which gets ripped constantly.

Gould had an art background. In an 1931 exhibition of his work, critic Edwin Alden Jewell praised him for having “painted the most beautiful chicken wire this reviewer has ever come upon in a gallery.”

MoMA acquired one of his earlier furniture designs, a side chair with the same steel frame and plastic cord seat. His use of geometry in his art clearly remained a constant with his furniture.

This has to be a chair that an old man sits down in and says “woah” like he’s about to roll around like an egg.

Now that makes me like them more… What I will say, they sit perfectly with the nature around them. They catch your eye like they've always belonged there. But it 100% works in this scenario because again, they’re living at a Schindler.

4. Philippe Starck, Miss Wirt Chairs (1982)

It has a very DMV sensibility. The name comes from the science fiction book Ubik by Philip K. Dick, which greatly inspired the designer. Black cotton linen fabric is stretched over two vertical steel tubes. The tension creates the comfortable back of the chair. I’m confident I could still find a way to slouch…my cats would also shred this thing.

A pair sold recently at auction for $1,300. I saw them sitting there at the preview, sort of ignored…Which is weird because, they’re abrupt, like you just walked into a wall. I definitely gave them my signature, “what the hell??”

Out of all of the color variations, I prefer the black, it feels the most sculptural, and a bit confusing. You can’t fully “get it” at the initial glance.

In my googling I also found these just plain dumber, Miss Wirt minis, perfect for your kid/short king.

Starck’s philosophy emphasizes that the only acceptable style is freedom. He pushed to do more with less, using the fewest materials possible while still giving the user the best possible experience. Remember the days when design actually considered its recipient?

You will definitely recognize his Louis Ghost Chair, designed for Kartell in 2002. A staple for every tween’s vanity set up. Draped with a faux sheepskin pelt.

If you’re inspired, I did find a sale for this weekend that has an excellent mid-century modern chair selection. Plus…an artist’s studio, a “fill a bag” sale, and a sale walkthrough with memories of each piece.