{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1360736"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1360736/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JJ6465/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JJ6465/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2016JJ6465","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JJ6455","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JJ6456","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JJ6457","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JJ6458","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JJ6466","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JJ6467","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JJ6472","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2016JJ6459","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1360736/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1360736","accessionNumber":"W.5-2019","objectType":"Chair","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Although Ray Komai was principally a graphic designer this chair is probably the most well-known of all his designs. He began designing furniture for the J. G. Furniture Company in the late 1940s after carrying out advertising work for the company. His moulded plywood chair was influenced by an interest in origami and the furniture of Charles and Ray Eames. He was also greatly influenced by abstract artists including Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee as well as tribal masks from Africa and New Guinea. The owner of the J. G. Furniture Company described Komai coming up with the design for this chair in a meeting in around 1948 – Komai held up a piece of paper and folded it into the shape of the seat, with a vertical seam running down the back. This chair, along with an upholstered chair designed by Komai, were exhibited in MoMA’s Good Design Award exhibition in 1950.","physicalDescription":"Chair with a single piece seat and back of moulded 5-ply walnut-faced plywood. There is a triangular shaped opening at the juncture of the seat and back that continues into a vertical slit up the back. The slit is held together with a horizontal metal bar on the back that is secured from the front with two circular metal disks.\r\n\r\nThe seat is supported on two sets of two tubular steel legs welded together. Each leg ends in a flattened metal circular foot with rubber around the top. Two of the feel have felt pads, one black and the other white. The legs are attached to a block of solid wood glued to the underside of the chair. The company's labels is adhered to the block of wood.\r\n","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Komai, Ray","id":"AUTH339211"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"J. G. Furniture Company","id":"AUTH339214"},"association":{"text":"manufacturer","id":"x33306"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"walnut","id":"AAT12476"},{"text":"plywood","id":"AAT12849"},{"text":"steel","id":"AAT133751"}],"techniques":[{"text":"moulding","id":"AAT53134"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Moulded 5-ply walnut-faced plywood and tubular steel frame","categories":[{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2016JJ6465","2016JJ6455","2016JJ6456","2016JJ6457","2016JJ6458","2016JJ6466","2016JJ6467","2016JJ6472","2016JJ6459"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES342657"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"chair","id":"AAT37772"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Brooklyn","id":"x35985"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"New York","id":"x29030"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1949","earliest":"1949-01-01","latest":"1949-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""},{"date":{"text":"ca. 1950","earliest":"1945-01-01","latest":"1954-12-31"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by the American Friends of the V&A through the generosity of Mark McDonald","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"74.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"53.3","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"57.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"J. G. Furniture Company label adhered to solid wood block glued to underside of chair"}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Chair, designed by Ray Komai, manufactured by J. G. Furniture Co., moulded walnut-faced plywood and tubular steel, designed New York, 1949, manufactured Brooklyn, New York, about 1950.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Wilk, Christopher.<u> Plywood: A Material Story.</u> London: Thames & Hudson / V&A, 2017","id":"AUTH345215"},"details":"","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Text from <i>Plywood: Material of the Modern World</i> (15 July-12 November 2017)\r\n\r\nCHAIR\r\nDesigned 1949\n\r\nRay Komai demonstrated his idea for this\r\nchair by folding a piece of paper into the\r\nshape of the seat, with a vertical seam\r\nrunning down the back. This beautifully\r\nsimple concept allowed for the creation\r\nof a moulded chair from a single sheet\r\nof plywood.\n\r\nDesigned by Ray Komai (1918–2010)\r\nManufactured about 1950 by J.G. Furniture Co.\r\nBrooklyn, New York, USA\r\nMoulded 5-ply walnut-faced plywood and\r\ntubular steel frame\r\nAmerican Friends of the V&amp;A through the\r\ngenerosity of Mark McDonald\n\r\nV&amp;A: LOAN:AMERICANFRIENDS.713-2016","date":{"text":"2017","earliest":"2017-01-01","latest":"2017-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["W.5-2019"],"accessionNumberNum":"5","accessionNumberPrefix":"W","accessionYear":2019,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2017JU8484"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-09","recordCreationDate":"2016-07-04","availableToBook":false}}