Featured Looking to establish provenance of chairs

Hi, I'm new here and live in Sydney, Australia.

I picked up these two chairs off a Sydney street (in Manly, if there are any Sydneysiders reading this) a year ago. They were in poor shape but we've since restored them. The wood is solid, possibly teak or jarrah.

I'm keen to find out more about the chairs: where/when manufactured, whether they were part of a series, had a name or style, or any other relevant information.

The only identifying mark is on the underside of one of the chairs - a number and what looks like a bar code.

Thanks in advance.

Rose

 

Welcome Rose.

Former Sydneysider, St. Ives, North Shore, so I know Manly.

One of your photos full image, so people can see what they look like:

 

What a delightful design. Pleasing to look at.

 

Contemporary interpretations of Frank Lloyd Wright-style craftsman chairs. Very nice! In the U.S. they'd be oak...can't speak to the likelihood of them being jarra.

 

Yes, I remember when @verybrad posted about those Wright chairs a couple of years ago. Pricey as I recall, let's look them up.
YIKES! yes, very pricey, this pair sold for 325k USD in 2019 at Christie's
https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6250253

 

Possibly Italian. They made a lot of similar stylish chairs in the 80s-90s. Being in Australia, they could be from elsewhere or even domestic. Just don't know enough about the market there to know.

 

Are you thinking of Cassina?

 

Cassina made higher end ones. The Italians made all kinds of knock-offs as well.

 

I think they are very good looking, probably local, and quite recent. The Prairie-years-Wright (he went on to do really awful stuff later) inspiration is very pleasing, but far from unique--they even make a very similar version, with slightly shorter back, in my neck of the woods!

Now for provenance, the person that sold them to you is your best bet to throw you a lead as to who owned them before, or who could know. Are you just curious or is provenance important to you for some other reason?

You could try showing a picture of them to the people at well-established furniture stores (look for the oldest guy you can find there), and see if they remember carrying them in the last ten years or so. They are reasonably distinctive.

 

I think Rose didn't actually mean provenance in the collector's sense, but manufacturer. She found them on a Sydney street, so it is likely they don't have provenance. Or if they do, the former owner didn't know.