G reat design speaks across the ages, and few can better recognize it than fellow creatives. In 1927, the pioneering photographer and future surrealist Florence Henri purchased a table and two chairs from Bauhaus compatriot Marcel Breuer, who became jungmeister (young master) of the furniture workshop two years earlier, at age 25.
Breuer designed the pieces around the time of his appointment, making them among the earliest examples of his signature tubular-steel furniture. The technique was so advanced that it’s likely the table’s trestles were made in 1926 at aviation firm Junkerswerke Dessau, one of the few local facilities capable of such precision work. Within months, Breuer co-founded Berlin-based company Standard Möbel to produce his furniture, including these chairs.
In 2004, Michael Maharam, U.S. textile entrepreneur, added the group to his collection of 20th-century design, which inspired the business he would sell to Herman Miller in 2013. Four years ago, he sold the three pieces at auction, completing a chain of inspiration stretching back nearly a century.
Cover image: A gathering in Florence Henri’s Paris apartment around 1931, featuring Robert Delaunay, Henri, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, Sonia Delaunay and Hans Arp seated at the table.
Photo: Galleria Martini & Ronchetti, courtesy of Archives Florence Henri, Genoa.
