{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1328316"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1328316/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JH1498/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JH1498/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2016JH1498","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JH1499","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JH1500","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JH1501","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JH1502","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JH1503","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JH1504","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JA9005","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JA9006","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JA9007","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JA9008","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JA9009","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JA9010","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JA9011","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JA9012","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JA9013","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JA9014","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1328316/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1328316","accessionNumber":"W.12-2016","objectType":"Suitcase","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This suitcase is an example of a once-common plywood object type, and one that helps demonstrate the very wide range of late 19th and early 20th century object types which were made of plywood. The suitcase carries stamps for ‘Luterma’ on its interior and exterior. From 1897 Luterma was the trade name for products made by the A.M. Luther Woodworking Company for Mechanical Woodworking (founded 1877) in Tallin, Estonia. Luterma was one of, if not the, most important manufacturers of plywood and plywood products in Europe in about 1900.\n\nThis suitcase originally belonged to Morton Shand (1888-1960), a leading figure in British modernism in the 1920s and 1930s.\n","physicalDescription":"Suitcase of bent and sheet plywood, with brown leather straps, hinges and handle. The lid of the case fits snugly over the base. The straps are fastened with metal buckles. On the exterior of the case are the remains of numerous paper labels and red wax seals. Inside the case is stamped the maker's logo. The case is not lined.\n\nNote: all leather parts are replacements.\r\n","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Luterma","id":"AUTH337659"},"association":{"text":"manufacturers","id":"AAT25230"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"Venesta","id":"A21423"},"association":{"text":"distributor","id":"x29579"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"plywood","id":"AAT12849"},{"text":"leather","id":"AAT11845"},{"text":"paper","id":"AAT14109"},{"text":"wax","id":"AAT14585"},{"text":"metal","id":"AAT10900"}],"techniques":[{"text":"bending","id":"AAT53101"},{"text":"riveting","id":"AAT53019"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Moulded and sheet 3-ply birch plywood with an additional reinforcing layer of 3-ply added around the edge of the lid; leather straps, hinges and handle; paper labels, wax seals","categories":[{"text":"Containers","id":"THES48972"},{"text":"Household objects","id":"THES48939"},{"text":"Clothing","id":"THES48975"},{"text":"Personal accessories","id":"THES48912"},{"text":"Tourism & Travel","id":"THES250702"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2016JH1498","2016JH1499","2016JH1500","2016JH1501","2016JH1502","2016JH1503","2016JH1504","2016JA9005","2016JA9006","2016JA9007","2016JA9008","2016JA9009","2016JA9010","2016JA9011","2016JA9012","2016JA9013","2016JA9014"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"74","id":"THES49720"},"free":"","case":"1","shelf":"FLOOR","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"suitcase","id":"AAT46224"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Tallinn","id":"x41088"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca.1930","earliest":"1925-01-01","latest":"1934-12-31"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by the Shand family","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"85.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"27/07/2016","earliest":"2016-07-27","latest":"2016-07-27"},"part":"","note":"full height"},{"dimension":"Height","value":"42.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"20/07/2016","earliest":"2016-07-20","latest":"2016-07-20"},"part":"","note":"of seat"},{"dimension":"Width","value":"42.2","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"20/07/2016","earliest":"2016-07-20","latest":"2016-07-20"},"part":"","note":"front of seat"},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"38.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"20/07/2016","earliest":"2016-07-20","latest":"2016-07-20"},"part":"","note":"of seat"},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"54","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"20/07/2016","earliest":"2016-07-20","latest":"2016-07-20"},"part":"","note":"approx depth of widest point"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This suitcase was given to the V&A in 2016 by the Shand family [2016/43]. It was in the possession of the retired furniture designer and teacher Mary Shand, who is also Lady Stirling, the widow of architect Sir James Stirling. The suitcase originally belonged to Lady Stirling’s father, Philip Morton Shand (1888-1960), a leading figure in British modernism during the 1920s and 1930s. Among Shand’s many achievements in this context were his translation of Walter Gropius’s <i>The New Architecture and the Bauhaus</i> (1930) and his organization of the first exhibition of Alvar Aalto’s work (furniture and sculptures) in the UK (at Fortnum and Mason in 1933). Shand was also closely associated with the Architectural Review and MARS (Modern Architectural Research Group, 1933-37).\n\r\nThe suitcase has been extensively used; it might be called pleasingly used. It has numerous travel stickers for rail journeys and the remnants of three red wax customs seals, indicating transit through European countries. According to Mary Shand her father used the suitcase often, including on trips to the Baltic countries (including Finland and Estonia) and in 1933 when he attended the CIAM conference (Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne) in Athens (subsequently known as the Athens Charter conference). The Luther company had a UK distributor, Venesta, run from 1925 by Shand’s friend Jack Pritchard. Pritchard was the founder (with Wells Coates) of Isokon and, in 1935, the Isokon Furniture Company. Shand might have acquired the suitcase through Pritchard or on his trip to Estonia.\r\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Suitcase, moulded and sheet birch plywood, manufactured by Luterma, Estonia, sold by Venesta, Britain, manufactured about 1930","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Wilk, Christopher.<u> Plywood: A Material Story.</u> London: Thames & Hudson / V&A, 2017","id":"AUTH345215"},"details":"","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Mass produced","id":"THES48863"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Mass-producing innovative materials\r\n\r\nThe company Luterma in Tallinn, Estonia was an important plywood manufacturer in the early 20th century. Its Department of Sundry Goods made use of a new, highly efficient technique of mechanically wrapping plywood around forms to produce a variety of products, including suitcases and hatboxes like the two shown here. Ensuring the expensive new machinery was cost-effective by reducing the number of stages of production, Luterma was able to mass-produce goods to sell to an international market.\r\n\r\nPlywood hatbox \r\nAbout 1930 (designed 1897) \r\nManufactured by Luterma, Estonia \r\nMoulded birch plywood with metal bindings and leather straps \r\nMuseum no. W.11:1, 2-2016\r\n\r\nPlywood suitcase\r\nAbout 1930 (designed 1897)\r\nManufactured by Luterma, Estonia \r\nMoulded birch plywood with leather hinges, straps and handle \r\nGiven by the Shand Family Museum no. W.12-2016\r\n\r\nThe object sits in the 'Automation and Labour' section of the Design 1900-Now gallery opened in June 2021.","date":{"text":"2021","earliest":"2021-01-01","latest":"2021-12-31"}},{"text":"Text from <i>Plywood: Material of the Modern World</i> (15 July-12 November 2017)\r\n\nHATBOXES, BAGS AND SUITCASES\n\nThe Russian company Luterma made\r\nthese hatboxes, bags and suitcases.\r\nLuterma was an important 20th-century\r\nplywood manufacturer, with a large\r\nBritish distributor called Venesta. They\r\nsold moulded products like these in great\r\nquantities. The hatboxes and suitcases\r\nwere marketed as lightweight and strong\r\nand came in a range of sizes. They typify\r\na move towards smaller luggage in the\r\n1920s and ’30s, linked to new kinds of\r\ntravel in aeroplanes and cars.\n\nHATBOX\r\nDesigned about 1897\r\nManufactured about 1930 by Luterma\r\n(previously A.M. Luther), distributed by Venesta\r\nMade in Estonia\r\nMoulded 3-ply birch plywood with metal bandings\r\nand replacement leather straps, paper labels\r\nV&amp;A: W.11-2016\n\r\nHATBOX\r\nAbout 1930\r\nManufactured by Samson (later Samsonite)\r\nMade in the USA\r\nMoulded 3-ply birch plywood, with an additional\r\nreinforcing layer of 3-ply at top and bottom\r\nV&amp;A: NCOL.524-2015\n\nSUITCASE\r\nAbout 1930\r\nManufactured by Luterma (previously A.M. Luther),\r\ndistributed by Venesta\r\nMade in Estonia\r\nMoulded and sheet 3-ply birch plywood with an\r\nadditional reinforcing layer of 3-ply added around the\r\nedge of the lid; leather straps, hinges and handle;\r\npaper labels, wax seals\r\nOriginally owned by P. Morton Shand (1888–1960),\r\ncontributor to the Architectural Review\r\nGiven by the Shand family\r\nV&amp;A: W.12-2016\n\nHANDBAG\r\nAbout 1930\r\nBags of this type were used by both men and women,\r\nand sold in various sizes\r\nManufactured by Luterma (previously A.M. Luther)\r\nMade in Estonia\r\nMoulded 3-ply birch plywood with leather straps\r\nV&amp;A: NCOL.602-2016\r\n\nSMALL BAG\r\nAbout 1930\r\nSmall bags of this type were sold for various uses,\r\nincluding as lunchboxes and for carrying botanical\r\nspecimens\r\nManufactured by Luterma (previously A.M. Luther)\r\nMade in Estonia\r\nMoulded 3-ply birch plywood with leather straps\r\nV&amp;A: NCOL.303-2017\n\nHATBOX\r\nAbout 1900\r\nManufactured by A.M. Luther (later Luterma)\r\nMade in Estonia\r\nMoulded 3-ply birch plywood, with an additional\r\nreinforcing layer of 3-ply at bottom, leather straps\r\nV&amp;A: NCOL.523-2015","date":{"text":"2017","earliest":"2017-01-01","latest":"2017-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["W.12-2016"],"accessionNumberNum":"12","accessionNumberPrefix":"W","accessionYear":2016,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-10","recordCreationDate":"2016-01-12","availableToBook":false}}