Shelby Williams chair

[Duer 157099]

I'm trying to research this chair I found today ($2!!) to see whether it's worthwhile to clean up. It's clearly Eames era, and is a combination of bentwood and metal - a combo I haven't really seen. I don't have a photo yet, and it's really really dirty and ugly. It has yellow seat/back. There are a couple of places where the wood is chipped or split, but they weren't in critical areas, I think.

I think I'm going to start a Mid-Century thread! This is my new favorite genre of stuff to look for.

edit to add photo:

[Duer 157099]

1. And while I'm on chairs, here's another one, a mystery

Someone has altered this chair, it looks like they removed the back. But I cannot identify it, and I've looked all over, searched "Knoll" and other similar, to no avail. Even without the back, it should be identifiable. The seat is plywood with a padded fabric (suede). It's very high quality.

Anybody recognize it, or have any clues, keywords?

:hi:

[Vinca]

2. Great finds! I haven't seen either chair before.

I found a neat Eames-era chair at a yard sale over the weekend. It's by Norman Cherner. The condition isn't perfect, but not too bad. Probably worth a couple of hundred dollars "as is" and I paid $25. It's a vintage version of one of these - http://www.chernerchair.com/side-walnut.htm

[Duer 157099]

4. Nice! I seem to be fixated on chairs at the moment for some reason

I've been looking all over, constantly, for the past few days, trying to identify that one chair with the wrought iron legs. It's so odd to me, because the design is very simple, very elegant, and yet I cannot find ONE chair (or any other object) that has this pattern for the legs!

I've looked all over the web, all over ebay, gone through dozens of auction catalogs, books on modern design - nada. And the longer this goes on, the more obsessed I will be with finding it, of course ::sigh::

I picked up a very cool little side table (phone table?) thing today, not sure what style it is, I'm still just getting the eames/atomic era styles down - this one might be deco, but it's very cool. I'll post a photo when I can.

Today I saw at least half a dozen chairs at just one thrift store that I wanted to bring home, but I resisted. Oh, and one was an overstuffed very unique shaped arm chair, that I also cannot find anything on - I'm sure it's a very collectible designer chair. I have never taken my camera into a thrift store, I somehow think that's an unwritten rule that you just don't do that, which is kind of silly really, but it would make my life much easier if I could just take photos and then go home and research, instead of trying to do it by memory (or just buying the item, which is what I usually do).

[Whoa_Nelly]

5. Am wondering if that particular shair is a Plycraft...

Gotta say, your post hooked me in for the past two days searching for that chair, especially because of the single inverted "V" stretcher. Reminds me the Eiffel Tower base on modern chairs, but much more simplistic.
(am in Interior Designer, and unusual furniture always intrigues me ;) )





Can you post a straight on shot of the seat? :hi:

[Duer 157099]

6. Awww, that's sweet, I always like spread my obsessions

sort of like a disease :D

OK, not sort of, it *is* a disease, but dammit, if I have to have a disease, then let it be an obsession on ... what? what do we call this? collecting? treasure hunting? thrift-storing?

I'm about to run out (to ... where else? a thrift store) but I'll post pics later. I have looked through thousands, tens of thousands, of photos over the past few days, have not seen it ONCE. Oh, and I'll post a link to a treasure trove of photos I found (auction house catalogs - extremely handy!)

I picked up a couple of books about Interior Design at (where else?) a thrift store yesterday, both from the 80s. Haven't really looked through them too much, but they looked interesting.

Thanks for sharing my obsession! :thumbsup:

edit: also, thanks for the new keyword, "plycraft" - it's amazing how just discovering one new keyword opens up a whole new search field! We maybe should start a thread about keywords

[Duer 157099]

7. Here's the seat, from above

bottom is front of chair

[Whoa_Nelly]

3. The yellow padded Scandinavian style bentwood chair is from the 1960s

and is a restaurant/coffee shop chair that was popular and commonly used up through the 1970s.
The nice thing about it is you won't destroy any perceived value by recovering it with fabric or plether if you want. Even painting the wood, or restoring it, won't alter any perceived value.

I can't find any links for you on that other than the Shelby Williams one you have probably already seen. Shelby Williams has been in the business for years in making contract (business) furniture, which includes restaurant/banquet chairs.

http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/22/Shelby-Williams-Industries-Inc.html
<snip>
By 1959 Shelby William's sales had jumped to $2.5 million. Its catalog had grown from 24 pages in its first year to 64 pages and included contemporary and Scandinavian designs. In response to the population boom on the West Coast, the company opened an assembly plant in Los Angeles. A break occurred for the young company when one of its main competitors, Thonet, the originator of bentwood manufacturing, left the burgeoning hotel and restaurant market. Shelby Williams rushed to fill the gap. From 1961 to 1964, Shelby Williams showrooms appeared in Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and in the Merchandise Mart in Chicago.