Artists
GERALD SUMMERS (1899-1967)
Medium
Birch Ply
Literature
1000 Chairs Charlotte and Peter Fiell, Cologne 2000 p.232
Design for Today 1934
100 Masterpieces Vitra Design Museum
Furnishing the small Home published London and New York 1930’s by the Studio Ltd.
A History of British Design 1839-1970 Fiona McCarthy pub.1972
The Design History Journal 1992 Vol.5 No.3 - precis of Masters' thesis by Martha Deese, Metropolitan Museum New York
Bent Wood and Metal Furniture 1850-1946 University of Washington Press edited by Derek E. Ostergard
Exhibition History
Work by Gerald Summers is to be included in the new 20th Century Furniture Galleries opening this year at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Vitra Design Museum
Thirties British Art and Design before the War organized by the Arts Council of Great Britain, London 1979
‘Constructivism in Art & Design’ Crafts Council Gallery, London 1988
Description / Expertise
Made by Makers of Simple Furniture (1931-1940)
Made from a single rectangle of aeroplane ply. Summers achieved with this Modernist masterpiece what his counterparts across Europe and Scandinavia had been striving for; it describes in the simplest terms the ideal unity of material, production, function and form. At this time adhesives and jointing methods did not stand the strain of everyday use and a number of both Alvar Aalto and Marcel Breuer’s designs had to be modified with bracing. This was alien to Summers’ beliefs, “In pure design we expect each part and member to pull its full weight in making the design suitable for its purpose. That is to say (taking a hypothetical case) if we use a brace only to strengthen two members the design is bad”. The seven 3 mm thick sheets with four lengthwise and 2 lateral cuts were placed on top of each other, sandwiched with glue and laid in the mould. Such was the concern of an American buyer about the durability of this chair that it was given an ‘environmental’ test; it was soaked with water and left in a warm, damp space for a number of weeks. It passed the test and the London Patent Office granted Summers ‘application for registry’ of the chair to protect his innovative design from infringement.
