Meda Chair
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
These Native American objects represent just a few of the items made in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century, primarily for sale to dealers and collectors to satisfy the growing market for indigenous products. Finely coiled baskets like the example by the Maidu weaver Mary Kea’a’ala Azbill were in great demand, as were Zuni Kachina dolls. The desire for Eskimo objects such as the ivory pipe engraved with a whale-hunting scene was accelerated by the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897. To appeal to non-Native patrons, Native artists invented new designs using trade materials such as the glass beads forming the embroidered floral arrangement on the northeastern puzzle bag (so named for the way its pieces fold together to keep it closed). Other artists used traditional materials but tailored designs to non-Native aesthetics, as seen in the porcupine-quill box. The Navajo quickly adapted to the Spanish introduction of silver coins and silver mining in the seventeenth century, embellishing their traditional wrist guards with hammered silver. Some artists retained both traditional materials and designs but produced greater quantities of popular items such as the Plains owl pipe bowl made from Catlinite (red pipestone).
Caption
Alberto Meda Italian, born 1945. Meda Chair, designed 1996. Aluminum, plastic, plastic mesh, plano covered foam seat, 38 1/4 x 27 3/8 x 20 1/4 in. (97.2 x 69.5 x 51.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Vitra, Inc., 2004.15. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2004.15_PS2.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Designer
Manufacturer
Title
Meda Chair
Date
designed 1996
Geography
Place manufactured: Weil am Rhein, Germany
Medium
Aluminum, plastic, plastic mesh, plano covered foam seat
Classification
Dimensions
38 1/4 x 27 3/8 x 20 1/4 in. (97.2 x 69.5 x 51.4 cm)
Inscriptions
Label: Alberto Meda
Markings
Molded in plastic on underside of chair: "Meda Chair / [in script] Alberto Meda / vitra." In plastic pouch attached to bottom of seat, a white plastic tag printed in black: "UNDER PENALTY OF LAW / THIS TAG IS NOT TO BE REMOVED / EXCEPT BY THE CONSUMER / [line] / URETHANE FOAM 90% / POLYESTER FIBER 10% / [line] / LIC. No. PA-24543 / [line] / Certification is / made by the / manufacturer that / the materials in / this article are / described in / accordance with / law. / [line] / MADE BY / VITRA, INC. / 6560 STONEGATE DR., ALLENTOWN, PA 18106 / Date of Delivery ______________ / Conforms to Cal Tech Bulletin 117" In plastic pouch attached to bottom of seat, paper booklet with cover reading: "Meda Chair / Gebrauchsanleitung. / Instruction for use. / Mode d'emploi. / Gebruiksaanwijzing. / Istruzioni per l'uso. / Instrucciones para / el uso. / [in bold] vitra. [silhouette of the chair]" Printed on label affixed to plastic pouch: "Ack: 037286-001/ Prod: 41700200 / Date: 01/16/04 / 1 of 1" Molded in the aluminum of chair base: "938-646 / AL [inscribed within a triangle within a circle (recycling symbol)]"
Credit Line
Gift of Vitra, Inc.
Accession Number
2004.15
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
Can you tell me more about this chair please?
Yes, this is a great example of mid-century Italian design. Italy's economy experienced a boom in the 1950s and 60s, largely due to their progressive designers.By the 1990s, Italian designers were looking back to the heyday of design for inspiration. The soft curves of the chrome recall the space age design of the mid-century.
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