An important early example of Marcel Breuer's Long Chair, designed in 1935–36 for Isokon and produced in Estonia by Luterma.

The Long Chair is one of the defining pieces of British modernist furniture of the 1930s. Breuer had been experimenting with laminated and moulded plywood following his arrival in Britain in 1935, and the Long Chair developed these ideas into a remarkably fluid reclining form. The shaped plywood seat and back are suspended within a continuous laminated birch frame, allowing the structure itself to provide much of the chair's flexibility.

This example is particularly interesting because of both its early construction and provenance. It was acquired directly from the family of the original owners and is accompanied by a pre-war photograph showing the chair in their London home before they left the city. This provides unusually strong evidence of the chair's early history and confirms that it was already in use before the Second World War.

The chair retains its original moulded plywood seat and back together with its original laminated birch frame. The timber has developed a wonderful depth of colour and patina through approximately ninety years of age and use, something that is particularly difficult to replicate in later examples.

We have deliberately taken a restrained approach to its conservation. The chair has been carefully cleaned and waxed rather than refinished, preserving the surface, colour and accumulated patina. A structural repair was required to the rear section of one foot and was professionally undertaken. Beyond this intervention, the original construction and aged surface have been retained.

We have bought and sold many examples of the Long Chair over the past twenty years, ranging from early production through to later editions. For us, it is the early examples such as this that best express the character of Breuer's original design, particularly in the colour and surface of the laminated birch and the delicacy of the plywood construction.

Although the Long Chair was conceived as functional furniture, we tend to view these earliest examples today as much as sculptural objects as pieces for regular seating. The sweeping profile of the frame and suspended plywood shell are particularly successful when the chair can be seen from the side, where the construction and extraordinary economy of the design become most apparent.

A particularly compelling early example, combining original construction, a beautifully preserved surface and unusually good family provenance supported by a pre-war photograph.

Viewing is warmly welcomed at our West London showroom.

High-resolution photographs, detailed condition reports and video inspections are available upon request.

We offer local, national and international shipping.

Please contact us for further information or to arrange a private viewing.