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Side Chair

Decorative Arts and Design

Ray Komai's molded plywood chair was manufactured in Brooklyn in 1949, using the latest American technology. Although European designers such as Marcel Breuer and Alvar Aalto designed plywood furniture in the 1930s, it was the Americans Charles and Ray Eames, in the years immediately after World War II, who realized the full potential of this material and bent one sheet of plywood in several directions. Komai's chair adds a sophisticated anthropomorphic twist. If you look closely, the chair's design suggests a human face.

MEDIUM Molded walnut plywood, chromed metal, rubber
  • Place Manufactured: Brooklyn, New York, United States
  • DATES ca. 1949
    DIMENSIONS 30 1/2 x 22 x 22 1/4 in. (77.5 x 55.9 x 56.5 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 1994.156.1
    CREDIT LINE Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Side chair. Molded walnut plywood, chromed metal and rubber. Ovoid continuous bent plywood seat and back with ovoid hollow at juncture of the seat and back which continues as narrow vertical void with flattened crest. Front splayed chromed tubular metal legs composed of one piece bent at right angle to support underside of seat; each splayed back leg bent at right angle at seat and soldered to continuous member of front legs. Metal support under seat with rubber strips beneath seat and horizontal chromed metal bar on back secured from front with two circular metal disks. Each leg with flattened metal circular pad. Condition: Good, veneer raised on proper left top seat seam, scratches and faded spots. Conservation report on file.
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Ray Komai (American, 1918–2010). Side Chair, ca. 1949. Molded walnut plywood, chromed metal, rubber, 30 1/2 x 22 x 22 1/4 in. (77.5 x 55.9 x 56.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund, 1994.156.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1994.156.1_bw.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 1994.156.1_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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