The Breuer House Chair

Photo: Home commission by Marcel Breuer’s Architecture firm in Baltimore County, Maryland. Interior furnished by Georg Jensen.

Background

In 1949, a young couple from Baltimore County visited New York City to see an exhibition at the MoMA museum. The exhibition featured a Marcel Breuer house temporarily built in the gardens of the museum. The house was a modular modern home designed for the progressive American family. Visitors could purchase the home (or a variation of it) and all its furnishings directly through the MoMA.

The young couple fell in love with the style of home, and commissioned Marcel Breuer’s firm to design a new home based on the MoMA Garden house. The project was overseen by Marcel Breuer’s most trusted associate and Director of Design, William Landsberg.

Photo:Marcel Breuer’s, Garden House built in the garden of the MoMA.

Photo: Exhibition brochure and press–release, October, 1949.

The New Home

The new home was built in Baltimore County. The design and furnishings were testament to Breuer’s vision of the new modern America. The family moved in upon completion of the house. The recounting of this history was passed directly from the daughter who grew up in the house. She stated that the home was furnished by Georg Jensen Inc. in New York City. Among the designs were several pieces by Finn Juhl and Jens Risom.

The furnishings included a Chieftain Chair, which was a centerpiece in the family’s living room. The chair is a very beautiful early example of the Chieftain. The chair remained in the home until it was finally sold by the surviving members of the family. The daughter provided a wealth of information surrounding the home and it’s significant history.

Photo: The Chieftain chair was the focal point of the family living room.

The family home exterior showcase all the classic hallmarks of a Marcel Breuer home.

The Store

Photo: Window display of the Georg Jensen store in NYC. Finn Juhl’s furniture was first displayed and sold through Georg Jensen in 1948.

The Breuer house was furnished at Georg Jensen in the early 50s. At the time, Frederick Lunning owned and operated Georg Jensen in NYC, and he considered himself a trend setter. In 1948, he displayed Finn Juhl’s work in his shop windows for the first time int he USA. He had a close relationship with Finn Juhl and Edgar Kaufmann Jr., and these three men were arguably the most important figures in the introduction and orchestration of Danish Modern in the USA. Lunning had secured an exclusive distribution deal with Niels Vodder–made furniture in the USA in the 1950s. Bovirke was also sold at Georg Jensen.

Photo: Chieftain chair from the house designed by Breuer.

The Spacer

The spacer is the small wooden piece that separates the backrest from the frame, and the design of this piece evolved over the years making it one of the most reliable ways to identify an ‘early chair’. The most common style of a spacer is a simple angular block, which was employed between 1956 to present day. The Breuer House Chieftain Chair has a sculpted spacer with a rubber bushing on the end, which is a trait of Chieftain Chairs made between 1949–1955.

Photo: The Breuer House Chieftain chair has a hand carved spacer with a rubber bushing. A rare and early trait seen on chairs between 1949–1955

Photo: Interior 52 Chieftain chair (stamped Niels Vodder) has identical sculpted spacer.

The Arms

The arms of this chair look the same as any other Niels Vodder Chieftain chair, but they don’t pass the magnet test suggesting that they are made of aluminum. Close inspection reveals that they are indeed a cast metal. This assertion is supported by an excerpt in 1952 Dansk Kunsthaandværk that says the arm plates are made of aluminum. It is just one of many short lived attributes that make this chair particularly special in the context of the chair’s evolution.

Image: Cast metal arm with steel threaded posts.

The Step

We know that the Chieftain chair underwent several small changes from 1949–1955, and few chairs have embodied these changes like the Breuer House Chieftain chair does. One trait that is without physical precedence is the subtle step on the rear stretcher. The only time anything like this appears is in a watercolour by Finn Juhl for an Interior Commission for W. Anderson in Denmark.

Photo: Drawing by Finn Juhl of the Chieftain Chair showing a step on the rear stretcher circa 1949/50.

Photo: Subtle step on the rear rung. Close examination reveals the entire stretcher is hand carved.

The Seat Tabs

The Breuer House Chieftain chair has five seat tabs, which is a very rare and early trait. The Newman Chair dates from 1949/50, and has 5 seat tabs. The Interior 52 chair dates from August/September 1952, and it too has 5 tabs.

Photo: The Breuer House chair has 5 metal seat tabs, which is a very early trait.

Photo: The Interior 52 Chieftain (stamped) is the latest known example of a Chieftain with 5 seat tabs.

Under the arms

Photo: Under the wooden strip of The Breuer House Chair we can see hand chiseled recesses and handwritten ‘European–style’ numerals.

These handwritten numerals are also found on stamped Niels Vodder chairs.

Photo: This Post–1956 NV chair also has the Euro-style “11” inscribed under the arm. Bolts are no longer recessed.

The Wood

The Breuer House chair is made from Walnut, which was the most fashionable wood in the American market. Walnut was also the only wood that Finn Juhl’s furniture was made of in the offerings at Georg Jensen NYC in the early 1950s. We know this thanks to the MoMA’s, Good Design Show records which show the models exhibited (both Baker and Niels Vodder), and without exception the materials were walnut.