Marcel Breuer
The Wassily Chair
Replica
Marcel Breuer
1926
The Wassily chair remains one of the most identifiable icons of modern furniture design and is a lasting testimony to the legacy of the Bauhaus, Germany’s legendary art school. A club chair stripped down to tubular steel and its elemental lines, it is the epitome of simplicity and functionality. It is so striking in its design that it cannot help but to demand attention in any room. Evolutionary in its use of materials and in its manufacturing, it is many modernists’ grandest dream to boast ownership of a Wassily chair.
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“The structure itself is an artwork”
Peter Ghyczy
Originally named the Model B-3 chair, the chair was renamed decades after its initial release. An Italian manufacturer, in the process of its re-release, learnt that legendary artist Wassily Kandinsky and Marcel Breuer were contemporaries at the same faculty of the Bauhaus during its design. Kardinsky was so enamoured by the design of Breuer’s chair, that Breuer felt obliged to gift him one. This anecdotal connection to artistic royalty proved too much for the marketing savvy Italians, and the rest is history.
The Wassily chair can be found in a number of museums around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
It also features on the cover of the book “Great Designs, the world’s best design explored and explained”.
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Classic Comfort
The seat, arms, and backrest seem to float in space. The design of the Wassily chair is such that the individual seated in the chair does not touch the tubular steel. This effect gives the feeling of being wrapped in comfort with a prime cantilevered seat at 20 degrees. The tubular steel and supple leather yield to the individual, producing an exceedingly pleasant experience.
Quality and Craftsmanship
The tubular steel tubes are slotted together rather than welded, securing its strength. Top quality Italian top-grain leather and Eisengarn (iron yarn) provide durability.
Marcel Breuer was born in Hungary in 1902. After high school, he studied painting for which he received a scholarship, but he loathed it so much that within a few weeks of joining he left to apprentice with a Viennese architect. In 1921 he enrolled at Bauhaus in Germany, where he thrived. A protegé of Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, Breuer is now equally celebrated for his achievements in architecture and furniture. An outstanding student and subsequently a master carpenter at the Bauhaus in the early 1920s, his entire body of work, both architecture and furniture, embodies the driving Bauhaus objective to reconcile art and industry.
“My most extreme work”
Marcel Breuer of the Wassily Chair
Product Literature
Gleaming, seamless tubular steel with a polished chrome finish. Top-grain Italian leather and Eisengarn complete the design. Our reproduction of the Wassily chair stays true to the original design, but for the exception that for reasons of stability and durability, our reproduction does not fold.
Product Materials
Frame: Chrome plated tubular steel
Chair upholstery: top-grain Italian leather
Product Dimensions
Height: 73cm
Width: 79cm
Depth: 72cm
Seat height: 42cm
Carrying weight: 120kg
Weight as shipped: 16kg
Care Instructions
Leather: Occasionally remove dust from the leather with a damp, lint-free cloth. Small soiled spots can be gently removed with a colourless rubber (eraser). Liquid spills should be immediately dabbed dry and wiped off with a little water. Once a year, the leather should be treated with a special leather care product, but never with any type of strong cleansing agent. Only use quality leather products which do not leave residue. Oily build-up on the leather makes it susceptible to bacteria, which can destroy the leather. Clean the stitching with a soft-bristle brush.
Make sure that your leather furniture is not positioned close to heat sources, so that it does not dry out and become brittle. In addition, we recommend that leather surfaces are not permanently exposed to intense sunlight, because direct sunlight over an extended time period can diminish the quality of the leather.
Metal: Do not use an abrasive material on the metal. Clean the item with a mild detergent and water. Dilute in the mild detergent in water so it is not too harsh on the metal. You can dip a soft-bristled toothbrush in the solution or a non-abrasive pad and use it to scrub off any residue or dirt on the item. Scrub the item with a soft toothbrush or a non-abrasive pad. Dry any residual moisture with a soft, dry cloth.