80’s Ettore Sottsass ‘mandarin’ chairs for Knoll set/2

This set of two Mandarin chairs is in black high gloss painted armrest and have leather seating. There is no brandmark on the chairs. Chairs are both in good condition consistent with age and use. Ettore Sottsass worked with Knoll on 3 collections between 1983 and 1989. And he wanted to be everything that modernism wasn’t. Sottsass became known for his asymmetric forms and, perhaps most of all, his flamboyant use of color, often in bold, clashing combinations. “You don’t save your soul just painting everything in white,” he once wrote. “Color can arise and be in harmony with the imperatives of structure, without destroying it.” The Mandarin Chair was part of the ‘Spider and Mandarin collection’ designed in 1986 and was a particular favorite for corporate interiors, restaurants and libraries. Its flowing, sculptural arm invoked the turn-of-the-century bentwood designs of Thonet, and was available in a variety of different color finishes that afforded the design a level of adaptability. As the original press release noted, “The chair’s character changes with its finishes, from high-tech to traditional.” Spider was a glass tabletop with a metal bent frame to carry the glass. The Mandarin chairs with the beautiful curves could be shown perfectly through the glass.

Ref. : TKQQBF9B