Yesterday I showed off my little hoop magazine rack that I picked up earlier this summer. I mentioned that I thought it would look great with my Hoop Chairs but hadn't ever posted about them. I guess I never posted about them because I've had them for a long time and we don't even have them in the house anymore.
I keep a pair of these on the front porch for "smokers seating" as the girlfriend used to smoke
(recently quit the cigarettes but still has the "electronic crutch") and lots of our friends still do.
There's no smoking inside. I'm just way too sensitive and she doesn't really like the idea of
smoke all over everything. So I had to put something durable out there for seating and it means
we get to use them some way!
Many years ago I found chairs exactly like these on a site that attributed the design to Tony
Paul for Woodlin Hall. There is one minor difference in that the backs on my set are attached
with welded on tabs. So these are maybe knock offs or a later production run. I'd love to find
the website and provide a link but I knocked around for twenty minutes or so using Google
and couldn't find it again.
The seats (and obviously the upholstery) have been replaced on mine. The bottoms have a slight
concave to them but not as much as the originals and the backs aren't curved at all. I love the
bright red vinyl as these are fun chairs and primary colors that pop like this are certainly fun! I've
had these on my ads for a long time and almost sold them to a guy in New Orleans a while back.
I keep telling myself that I'm going to re-do the seats with some new vinyl but then I'd NEVER
be able to give them up!
All I've done to them so far is to clean them up and put new "feet" from my local True Value
Hardware store. I've got some more subtle upholstery material that I could use on these and
actually bring them inside to use around the house...perhaps as extra party seating. I could
hang them in the garage until needed. I need the extra party seating as I sold all the Pod chairs
that I used to use. Man, those were so comfortable too. I kinda miss them. I miss all my
former orphans!
I recently bought a pair of these chairs off CL. Mine are slightly diff. though. I thought mine were Hauser's hoop chairs, but I don't think they are. I'm glad you brought up this name so I can research them!
ReplyDeletesomething very sxy about the chair..looks smart paired up with the hoop rack
ReplyDeleteMatch made in MCM heaven...
ReplyDeleteNice find!
ReplyDeleteFYI These are the 1953 Reilly-Wolff "Circle Chairs" designed by Joseph Cicchelli which were shown in the 1953 Good Design exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29624070@N07/6632406965/
MMMMmmm...I'm gonna have to say, "close, but no cigar" on the '53 Reilly-Wolff "Circle Chairs" attribution. The front legs attach to the seat frame differently and the back legs of my chairs continue upwards to make the seatback frame where as the Reilly-Wolff chairs bend either forward or sideways. I wish I could find that damn web page I found earlier. The mystery continues.
DeleteI've got one just like it with the welded-on tabs. I think the original feet were just black plastic caps. My mom had one since the 1960s. I can only remember it during the 1970s (I was born in '68). I never saw it with anything other than plastic caps for the feet. Mine has the original wood, but has been reuphostered. The wood on mine follows the curve of the circle much more closely than shown here. The padding for the seat and back was about 1/2" thick felt. My chair was originally covered with turquois-colored vinyl.
ReplyDeleteMine from my grandmother also has the welded on tabs. It still has the B/W '50s vinyl covering, though very worn. I'm awed to find so many great examples - the back supports on mine are closer together at the bottom than most shown. And I think the seat/back are plywood - that's what it looks like at least. If so, a replacement piece should be easy to form by steaming (or cut them and let the plywood get damp. Screw it into place immediately).
ReplyDelete