Chairs in Ligna Bentwood, Former Czechoslovakia, 1960, Set of 4

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A set of four antique chairs in bentwood, with a curved crest rail over vertical splats and a moulded board … Read more A set of four antique chairs in bentwood, with a curved crest rail over vertical splats and a moulded board seat. Originates from Czechoslovakia, where beech was steam-bent in iron moulds and assembled with through screws.The steam-bent beech chair was born in Vienna in the middle of the nineteenth century and became the most widespread seat in Europe: light, strong, knock-down and cheap to ship. Its presence in cafés, dining rooms and waiting rooms made it so common that it went almost unnoticed. The chairs retain the LIGNA mark, the Czechoslovak enterprise that channelled the country’s furniture exports through the middle decades of the twentieth century. The bentwood production inherited from the Moravian tradition left the country under that name.The seat hoops and stretchers are single lengths of steam-bent beech; the rear legs run up in continuity with the back uprights. The joints are screwed from inside, the heads left visible beneath the seat.The beech has taken a pale honey tone under its original varnish, more golden where hands and clothes have passed. The seats show the sheen that years of use give, with the odd fine scratch. The curves keep their tension and the hoops have no play. The set is complete and stable.An everyday dining chair, easy to stack against a wall and light to move. It works around a solid wood table and suits a rustic kitchen as readily as a contemporary dining room. See less