Origami Chair from Auldbrass???

DavidC · Post by **DavidC** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:46 am

Saw this on eBay: FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT ORIGAMI CHAIR FROM SC PLANTATION

Claims it's an Auldbrass original. Looks way, way too new and not nearly a dark enough finish to my eye.

David

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 11:18 am

i am pretty sure that this is a cassina version, which is no longer made. the listing only says that it came from auldbrass, not that it is original to the house.

it looks like it is in great condition. it would make sense to ask if it is stamped or marked in any way.

i wonder what the reserve is. nine bids already...

SpringGreen · Post by **SpringGreen** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 11:26 am

That is a little bit too nice - where are the stains, the chipped plywood, the lost pieces, the discoloration?!

Hopefully the sellers have provenance for it, but no one bidding seems to mind, so let them spend their money, I guess.

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 11:41 am

the restoration was done by joel silver (what year, not that long ago?). these chairs are expensive to build, and since the cassina chair is no longer made, it would date it (maybe 10 to 20 years?). if the seller is not being truthful about the provenance, it is still a nice chair, and if the provenance is correct, it shouldn't really matter since it appears to be a mass produced version (the same one used at taliesin west).

should one really pay more money for it because the owner before joel silver, or joel silver himself sat on it?

correction, taliesin origami:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dotsara/2067534712/

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 1:09 pm

Joel Silver purchased Auldbrass c. 1987. The book illustrating the completed restoration is dated 2003. Nowhere in the book, well-illustrated
with period and contemporary photos, does one see an Origami chair, nor can I find any mention of one in the text. As to upholstery color, the
original specs were for yellow, ivory and chartreuse fabrics.

The original furniture plan, below, shows four of the lounges which were apparently reproduced for the restoration. The purpose of the separate
and removable arm elements becomes clear in the drawing: this design allows for placement of two lounges side-by-side, or next to another piece
of furniture.

Deke · Post by **Deke** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 2:53 pm

That origami chair has to be one of the dorkiest most ungainly things FLW ever designed. Darn comfy though...sat in one at T-West. But the size of a small cow.
Deke

Jeff Myers · Post by **Jeff Myers** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:09 pm

The Origami Chair is very comfortable though I have an eye for design It would suite me the Auldbrass chair is on that looks like that if you sit in it the back might fall off or the arms might come apart but cool design.

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:12 pm

deke-

are you referring to the t west chair, or the amazing auldbrass creation? if the t west chair is a small cow, i would say that the auldbrass lounge chair is a large bull...

Jeff Myers · Post by **Jeff Myers** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:16 pm

Pterm
that is true both chairs are wonderful. I have seen many of his chair designs and wonder what a Price Tower chair is like when you sit down? I have seen them but I just imagine are the comfortable or not.
Jeff

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:31 pm

eBay chair

Simon Clay photo, in Maria Costantino, "The Life and Works of FLLW" (1998; PRC Publishing)

Texture to fabric is due to my scan.

SDR

Jeff Myers · Post by **Jeff Myers** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:35 pm

I never noticed that Cherokee Red Lamp Before. Great Picture. I love that chair. I never knew plywood furniture could be so comfortable.

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 4:28 pm

i am almost positive these are the cassina chairs. they seem identical. thoughts?

also, deke, do you mean that the origami chair as a whole is a failure, or only this particular version?

imo- it is one of wright's most elegant furniture compositions...

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:13 pm

Five of these modern-era Origamis are visible in one of the Taliesin West photos in Costantino's book. I suppose they might have been a gift, or were
received in partial exchange for Cassina's right to reproduce the design ?

Perhaps the one -- in the same purple fabric (?) -- that is for sale in the Southeast, was connected with Auldbrass as a way to foster its (bogus) bona
fides via a local connection, no matter how spurious and irrelevant ?

SDR

DavidC · Post by **DavidC** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 2:54 pm

$1,225 wasn't enough to snag it.

David

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 3:14 pm

It shows on the ebay listing that the seller ended the listing early. Usually this means that a) the seller sold it through a store or to another dealer, or b) someone made a buy it now offer through ebay which the seller accepted.