I stumbled across these chairs for sale via Leland Little yesterday, and it was like encountering a beautiful train wreck. I couldn’t stop looking at them.
On the one hand, they nailed all the angles. But on the other hand, white naugahyde.
The only information Leland Little offers is they are “circa 1950” and they are “American.” Yet another thing the world can be angry with us about.
— Christopher Schwarz
They look like they could be comfortable … but … metal and nuagahyde?! The ugliness is stunning!
Termite-resistance might be a selling point!
Ugly might be in the eye of the beholder but… you gotta love the American way, man! LOL How did they sit? Eat Tofurkey and boycott the NFL too. Just kidding. Happy Thanksgiving, all!
Great opportunity for someone to make the world a little better by buying these and reupholstering them.
Think of the poor naugas….
They weren’t so close to extinction in the early ’50’s – stuff like this was what started that sad process.
This is why I only purchase Fair Trade, Free Range, Cage Free, Cruelty Free, Non-GMO, Grass Fed, Shade Grown, Third Wave naugas.
It’s the only ethical choice.
Those would look great next to my brass and glass coffee table.
Seats made from the hide of the mythical creature Nauga, wow!
I could really get into them if they were avocado green. You know, to match the phone mounted to the wall. We did have group chat on the phone though, but mostly with nosy neighbors.
Forget the lens of nostalgia; I’d need an abstract painting of it to love these puppies. 🙂
Oh, Stumpy, thanks for the guffaw–I have one of those in the basement that even has a lamp built in (came with the house).
Condolences.
Whoa. That’s quite a contrast. Fascinating to see how the original form was interpreted.
An interesting spin on Welsh Schtick. Almost spot on….
At a country auction in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains in the early 70s, we heard the auctioneer refer to the upholstery of an item as “genuine Naugahyde”! Had we laughed out loud at the description or the pronunciation (gin-you-wine, with equal emphasis on each syllable) we would have been thrown out of the place in short order. At the time we joked about the need for species protection of the Nauga, or the greater imperative: protecting the human species from the rampant plasticizing of our planet, yet we hardly envisioned that that would be a serious current issue in the 21st century – our objections then were purely aesthetic in nature.
Yes, ‘naugahyde’ IS in the dictionary, but the ‘nauga’ and its fabled species endangerment is not mentioned.
I see a stretched-out crucible logo in the back…
Appears to be a Paul McCobb design – mid century of course. And obviously inspired by the Welsh stick chair. He has some other lovely and spare all wood chair designs. I have a desk of his that is similarly constructed to the Anarchists staked table, only the McCobb design uses wooden screws at the top of his legs instead of tapered tenons.
In the odd places to find a welsh chair department, I saw what looks like a welsh rocker featured in an episode of Midsomer Murders (season 3, episode 4). It was the local ghost’s favorite place to sit and rock.
laugh or cry… I’ll settle for a little snicker…