{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O133484"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O133484/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BH6005/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BH6005/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006BH6005","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O133484","accessionNumber":"W.34-1984","objectType":"Chair","titles":[{"title":"Beech chair with caned seat","type":"generic title"},{"title":"Beech chair with cane seat","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Richard Riemerschmid (1868-1957) was born in Munich, Bavaria. He studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and was a founding member of the Deutscher Werkbund in 1907 which brought together manufacturers, retailers and designers to raise the quality of goods and revitalise the German economy .\n\nRiemerschmid was awarded a gold medal at the 1900 Paris World Fair for his design, 'Room for an Art Lover' which featured the elaborate stucco decoration characteristic of the curvilinear phase of Jugendstil. On display in the room was perhaps his most famous chair, 'Model 4059' (CIRC.859-1956) several of which were bought by Liberty's for their shop. \n\nIn 1903 he began to design furniture for the Deutsche Werkstätten für Handwerkskunst in Dresden which  became one of the largest and most important furniture manufacturers in Germany. At this time he met Dresden-based wicker manufacturer Theodor Reimann and in 1904 designed two different wicker chairs, a side table, and a Strandkorb, or roofed wicker beach chair.\n\nIn 1906 he presented his first Maschinenmöbel (machine furniture) at the third Deutsche Kunstgewerbeausstellung, Dresden. Each individual component for his 'Machine furniture' was manufactured in small quantities at the Dresdner Werkstätten für Handwerkskunst and assembled manually. The functional form of the beech chair with its caned seat and open back exemplifies his democratic approach to design which was concerned with making well constructed, beautiful furniture that was accessible to a wider public. The decoration of the chair relies on the intentionally visible joints and the use of rattan on the seat.","physicalDescription":"Chair, constructed of beech, with a caned seat and open back. The side seat rails are tennoned into the front legs and attach to the side of the back legs with dowels or screws and plugs.  The front seat rail is attached over the front legs with dowels or screws and plugs.  There is no rear seat rail, but a lower stretcher is tennoned into the rear legs.  The rear legs rise to become the sides of the back, and are connected at the top by a simple rail tennoned into them. Three uprights connect the top rail to a rail about 6cm above the seat.  The four sides of the shallow seat frame are tennoned or dowelled together and the caning was completed before it was attached to the chair frame. The simple six-way caning has an edging on the top surface but no retaining groove on the underside. The chair was painted but was stripped before it was re-caned. There is evidence of old paint under the seat.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Riemerschmid, Richard","id":"A6647"},"association":{"text":"Designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Deutsche Werkstätten","id":"A10307"},"association":{"text":"Manufacturer","id":"x33306"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Beech","id":"x30453"},{"text":"cane (plant material)","id":"AAT11864"}],"techniques":[{"text":"caning","id":"AAT53599"},{"text":"joining","id":"AAT137062"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Beech, caned seat","categories":[{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"},{"text":"Interiors","id":"THES48933"},{"text":"Product design","id":"THES49025"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2006BH6005"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"74","id":"THES49720"},"free":"","case":"CA001","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Chair","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Dresden (city)","id":"x28810"},"association":{"text":"Designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Dresden (city)","id":"x28810"},"association":{"text":"Manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1904-1906","earliest":"1904-01-01","latest":"1906-12-31"},"association":{"text":"Designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""},{"date":{"text":"1904-1906","earliest":"1904-01-01","latest":"1906-12-31"},"association":{"text":"Manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"90","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"42.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"54","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"41.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"seat depth"},{"dimension":"Height","value":"45","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":"seat height"}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This chair was shown in Gestaltete Form Mobel aus Hellerau, Museum fur Kunsthandwerk, Dresden, 2 June-31 October 1973, Catalogue Number 11.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Chair designed by Richard Riemerschmid and made by the Deutsche Werkstätten, beech and cane, c. 1904-06","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Harrod, W. Owen. 'Towards a Transatlantic Style: The Vereinigt Werkstätten für Kunst im Handwerk and German Modernism in the United States'. <i>Studies in the Decorative Arts</i>, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Fall-Winter 2004-2005), pp. 30-54.\r\n\r\nKirkham, Pat. 'Design Reform in Austria and Germany c. 1900-1914: The ‘Avant Garde’ and Wicker Furniture.' <i>The Journal of the Decorative Arts Society 1850 - the Present</i>, No. 11, 1987, pp. 5–9. "},{"reference":{"text":"Arnold, Klaus-Peter, <i>Gestaltete Form in Vergangenheit und Gegenwart: Model aus Hellerau: Ausstellung","id":"AUTH356825"},"details":"","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"","id":""},{"text":"Arts and Crafts (movement)","id":"AAT21205"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Products for a new industrial age\n\nIn the early 1900s, designers and industry strived to create affordable, machine-made goods in larger quantities than ever before. In line with this approach, German designer Richard Riemerschmid created the beechwood chair and stoneware jug seen here. The chair was hand assembled using simple machine-cut parts. The jug, with its rounded form and blue lozenge pattern, made use of an existing lid design which was already in use at ceramic manufacturer Reinhold Merkelbach. This helped to reduce manufacturing complexity and cut production time and costs.\n\r\nMachine-cut timber chair \nAbout 1904–06\nDesigned by Richard Riemerschmid \nMade by the Deutsche Werkstätten, Germany \nBeech frame and caned seat \nMuseum no. W.34-1984\n\nBlue and grey lidded jug \n1903\nDesigned by Richard Riemerschmid \nManufactured by Reinhold Merkelbach, Germany \nHand-painted salt-glazed stoneware with pewter lid \nMuseum no. C.32-1990\n\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":"CHAIR\r\nDesigned by Richard Riemerschmid (German, 1868-1957)\r\nMade by Dresdner Werkstätten für Handwerkskunst, Dresden, Germany\r\nOak\r\n1904-1906\r\n\r\nFounded by Riemerschmid and his brother-in-law Karl Schmidt, the Dresdner Werkstätten devoted itself to the manufacture of reasonably priced suites and individual pieces of mass-produced furniture for middle-class homes. This chair appeared in the firm's 1906 catalogue. The parts of this chair would have been machine made and then assembled by hand.\r\n\r\nW.34-1984","date":{"text":"1989-2006","earliest":"1989-01-01","latest":"2006-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["W.34-1984"],"accessionNumberNum":"34","accessionNumberPrefix":"W","accessionYear":1984,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-05-13","recordCreationDate":"2007-03-27","availableToBook":false}}