Bent chromium-plated tubular steel serves as the frame of this chair. The seat and back are fabric covered elastic bands, similar to bungee cords. Each is wrapped at either end with wire which then is formed into a hook. Each hook allows it to attach into a hole drilled in the frame to accommodate it.

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Object Timeline

-0001	We photographed this object. We photographed this object. We photographed this object.
1929	Work on this object began.
2006	We acquired this object.
2007	We exhibited this object.
2014	We photographed this object.
2015	We photographed this object.
2017	We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

Sandows No. 5 Side Chair

This is a side chair. It is dated 1929 and we acquired it in 2006. Its medium is bent chromium-plated tubular steel, fiber, rubber. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.

This spare, minimalist design is part of a series executed in 1928–29. The inclusion of bungee cord-like elastic bands for the seat and back, normally reserved for luggage racks and sports equipment of the period, make the chair a very early example of the application of such materials in seating design.

It is credited Museum purchase through gift of Esme Usdan and from General Acquisitions Endowment Fund.

Knotted Chair Chair
H x W x D: 70.8 x 53.3 x 63.5 cm (27 7/8 x 21 x 25 in.).
Gift of Cappellini.
2008-23-1

Vermelha Chair
bent epoxy-coated steel, hand woven dyed cotton rope, aluminum.
Gift of Edra SpA, Italy.
2007-39-1

Barcelona Chair
hand-forged steel, hemp.
Museum purchase from Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program,....
2000-12-1-a,b

Our curators have highlighted 4 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

This is a cantilevered chair with a curved support made of tubular steel, on which a cane seat and chair are woven tightly in between. Most prominent is the use of curved tubular steel frame. From the chair shape to the the bottom half, the steel frame transitions seamlessly from chair back, to seat, to dramatic, round, half circle shape front 'legs' into a square support on the bottom for feet, in one single piece. This curving to square design is repeated for chair's arms: a singular tube creates two, long rounded supports that seamlessly transitions into flat arms on either side of the chair and is squared off behind the chair's back. Along the chair's arms, seat, and back is a dark brown woven cane.

Model MR534 Lounge Chair
bent nickel-plated tubular steel, cane.
Gift of the David Teiger Trust.
2016-36-7

Modern, metal frame lounge chair on a black base. The concave, arched tubular steel chair has an elongated, tan cushion. The 'I-form' base features four flat tapering legs with small circular feet. The silver tubular frame has curved ends and rests on the base. The top section of the steel frame is covered with a conforming textile. A few of the circular grommets are exposed underneath the textile, with several white tie laces visible and dangling underneath.

Lounge, LC4, 1928
wood, tubular steel, other metals, textile.
Lent by Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Miani Johnson in memory of her mother,....
33.2016.5

A gold-ochre cover with black and orange-red sans-serif type of [Devantvres, vitrines, installations de magasins a l'Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, 1925]. At left a perspectival square volume inscribes a stepped, rectilinear plane in which black rectangles are diagonally stacked.

Book, Devantures, vitrines, installations de magasins a l’Exposition...
printed paper.
Smithsonian Libraries, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Library, NA6225 .H4Z....
43.2016.15

Its dimensions are

H x W x D: 88 × 43.5 × 48 cm (34 5/8 × 17 1/8 × 18 7/8 in.)

Cite this object as

Sandows No. 5 Side Chair; France; bent chromium-plated tubular steel, fiber, rubber; H x W x D: 88 × 43.5 × 48 cm (34 5/8 × 17 1/8 × 18 7/8 in.); Museum purchase through gift of Esme Usdan and from General Acquisitions Endowment Fund; 2006-17-1

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibitions The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s and Looking Forward/ Looking Back: Recent Acquisitions in 20th- and 21st-Century Design.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2DSS6/
Accession Number 2006-17-1
Object ID 18706745