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This graceful, elegant, and beautifully proportioned “MR10” chair, developed from a 1924 design for a cantilevered chair by Mart Stam, was introduced by Mies van der Rohe at the 1927 Stuttgart exhibition and has remained in production ever since. Chromium nickel plated steel cantilever frame, in one piece, curving outwards at top of back. Curved tubular steel stretcher rod across front of seat, and attached to right and left sides of the frame. The back and seat are in one piece of black leather. Original manufacturers Jo. Muller, Berlin, and then Gebruder Thonet, Vienna and Berlin. Mies van der Rohe patented his design of chair embodying the principle of a resilient cantilever, and received a substantial income from royalties on that patent (until leaving Germany). MR chairs and armchairs were shown at the Weissenhof Exhibition Stuttgart , 1927 and the Exposition de la Mode for which Mies and Lilly Reich designed the Caf Samt und Seide with leather-slung MR chairs and tubular steel stools and tables from the MR series. It is in great vintage condition with a few minor scuffs to the leather and light rust to the chrome base as is typical of true vintage pieces. This is a vintage piece, not manufactured by Knoll.Creator: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (Designer),Lilly Reich (Designer)Design: MR Chair – 256CSMR SeriesDimensions: Height: 32.29 in (82 cm)Width: 19.69 in (50 cm)Depth: 30.32 in (77 cm)Seat Height: 17.33 in (44 cm)Style: Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)Materials and Techniques: Chrome,LeatherPlace of Origin: GermanyPeriod: Mid-20th CenturyDate of Manufacture: 1960’s?Condition: GoodWear consistent with age and use.Seller Location: Tucson, AZReference Number: Seller: smco-220671stDibs: LU6607230431592Shop All Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Architect, furniture designer and educator, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a central figure in the advancement and promotion of modernist design and architectural theory and practice. Like Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier, he was a hugely influential presence in the field, who shaped the course of 20th-century architecture both through his buildings and his teaching of rationalist design principles.
Born in the medieval German city of Aachen, Mies found an interest in architecture as a boy while working for his father, a master stonemason. He had no formal education as an architect, but learned his skills as an apprentice to the designer Bruno Paul, and as a staffer in the office the proto-modernist architect and designer Peter Behrens. Following World War I, Mies rose to prominence in his field amid the liberal atmosphere of the Weimar Republic. His reputation was secured by his work on the German Pavilion at the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona (commonly referred to as the Barcelona Pavilion) which Mies codesigned with Lilly Reich, his creative and romantic partner a radically simple, poetic, open-plan building pared down to its architectural essentials. Mies would go on to direct the Bauhaus from 1930 until 1933, when Nazi-government interference forced the closure of the progressive art and design school. Later that decade, he made his way to Chicago, where he remained for the rest of his career as a practicing architect and a dean of the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Miess famed dictum less is more grew from his belief that architecture both guides and expresses the spirit of the times, and he envisioned the 20th century as open-minded, logical, transparent and liberated by technology. His best-known buildings residences such as the Villa Tugendhat in Czechoslovakia and the Farnsworth House in rural Illinois; skyscrapers like the 860880 Lake Shore Drive apartment towers in Chicago and the Seagram Building in New York reflect that philosophy. As do the most famous furniture designs authored by him or codesigned with Reich.
Pieces designed by Mies and Reich such as the Barcelona chair (the authorized version is produced by Knoll today), stools and daybed, or the cantilevered Brno chairs, deliver a maximum of comfort and support from a minimum of materials: their lavishness derives from the precision with which they are engineered and constructed. For the collector, the allure of Miess furniture is at once practical and idealistic. Useful and functional, his works embody the highest aspirations of modernism.
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