{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1371104"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1371104/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2017JR5878/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2017JR5878/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2017JR5878","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JR5879","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JR5880","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JR5882","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JR5883","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JR5885","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JR5886","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017JR5887","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1371104","accessionNumber":"W.9-2017","objectType":"Chair","titles":[{"title":"P31","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"The P31 chair was designed by Osvaldo Borsani for Tecno in 1957. It was available in two versions – with three or four legs. The moulded plywood seats and backs were veneered in a range of different woods - including rosewood, teak and walnut - that attached to a minimal tubular steel frame. The simple, functional chair was clearly inspired by the Charles and Ray Eames’ 1940s designs. Borsani even adapted the Eames’ method of attaching the seat back to the frame using rubber ‘shock’ mounts. \n\r\nThe P31 relates closely to another contemporary chair – Borsani’s S88. Designed in 1956, the S88 is a narrower version of the P31, with a folding tubular steel frame.  Both the P31 and the S88 were widely published in the Italian design press through the late 1950s and early 1960s. The high profile of these designs reflects a wider interest in Borsani’s contemporary, international aesthetic. No later than 1963 (based on dated photographs in the Borsani archive), the design of both chairs had been slightly adapted by the addition of a brass fitting to the chair back. This additional brass ‘button’, which is in place on the example being acquired, was intended to provide additional stability to the chair back – according to Borsani’s wife, the backs of both chairs had had a tendency to swivel on their single fitting. ","physicalDescription":"Chair with seat and back of moulded 7-ply rosewood-faced plywood and a black tubular steel frame with three legs. The seat and back are attached to the frame by rubber 'shock' mounts - pieces of rubber glued to the underside of the seat a back that the frame could be screwed to. There is an additional reinforcing brass and steel fitting to the back of the chair.\n\n\nThe legs are formed of three pieces of tubular steel, each bent to form half of two of the chair's legs, so that each of the three legs is formed of two pieces of tubular steel. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Borsani, Osvaldo (Mr)","id":"AUTH340667"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"x40240"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Tecno S.p.A.","id":"A21096"},"association":{"text":"manufacturer","id":"AAT25230"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"plywood","id":"AAT12849"},{"text":"steel","id":"AAT133751"},{"text":"rosewood","id":"AAT12424"},{"text":"rubber","id":"AAT12941"},{"text":"brass","id":"AAT10946"}],"techniques":[{"text":"moulding","id":"AAT53134"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Rosewood-faced 7-ply plywood and tubular steel frame, rubber mounts, brass fittings","categories":[{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2017JR5878","2017JR5879","2017JR5880","2017JR5882","2017JR5883","2017JR5885","2017JR5886","2017JR5887"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"006","id":"THES343791"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"chair","id":"AAT37772"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Milan","id":"x29007"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1957","earliest":"1957-01-01","latest":"1957-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""},{"date":{"text":"1960s","earliest":"1960-01-01","latest":"1969-12-31"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Archivio Osvaldo Borsani","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"78","unit":"cm","qualifier":"estimated","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"57","unit":"cm","qualifier":"estimated","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"50","unit":"cm","qualifier":"estimated","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"P31 chair, designed by Osvaldo Borsani, manufactured by Tecno Spa, rosewood-faced 7-ply plywood and tubular steel frame, rubber mounts, brass fittings, Milan, Italy, designed 1957, manufactured 1960s","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":"Text from <i>Plywood: Material of the Modern World</i> (15 July-12 November 2017)\n\nP31 CHAIR\r\nDesigned 1957\n\r\nWith its sweeping, wide plywood back\r\nand seat, this chair was clearly influenced\r\nby the Eames’s designs. Osvaldo Borsani\r\neven adapted the Eames’s method of\r\nattaching the seat back to the frame using\r\nrubber ‘shock’ mounts. The Italian Tecno\r\ncompany, which was founded in 1953 by\r\nBorsani and his brother Fulgenzio, produced\r\nfashionable, contemporary furniture.\n\r\nDesigned by Osvaldo Borsani (1911–85)\r\nManufactured in the early 1960s by Tecno SpA\r\nMilan, Italy\r\nMoulded rosewood-faced 7-ply plywood and tubular steel\r\nframe, rubber mounts, brass fittings\r\nBrass fitting on chair back an early 1960s addition\r\nto the initial design\n\r\nGiven by Archivio Osvaldo Borsani\r\nV&amp;A: W.9-2017","date":{"text":"2017","earliest":"2017-01-01","latest":"2017-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["W.9-2017"],"accessionNumberNum":"9","accessionNumberPrefix":"W","accessionYear":2017,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-06","recordCreationDate":"2016-10-27","availableToBook":true}}