Vintage armchair model 6950 by Jaroslav Smidek for Ton, 1960s

This is one of the iconic chairs of Czech design in the 1960’s. It was designed by architect Jaroslav Smidek, who was one of the most influential Czech designer of the second part of the 20th Century. Sadly his work and legacy is only known predominantly by the design professionals and enthusiasts, but not by the general public. It is a great shame because Smidek was involved in many top quality interior design projects, as well as designing furniture that was the best of the production in Czechoslovakia at that time and still remains popular. Smidek started his carrier at ULUV , a company where many different leading artists and designers were in charge of producing various homeware and furniture. Smidek was working there as a head of the wood and glass making workshop. After that, Smidek started working for Research and Development of Furniture Industry in Brno, where he was mainly involved in developing modular, stackable furniture that could be easily put together or taken apart - a principle that is now widely used by Ikea. At the same time Smidek was designing furniture for TON. This particular armchair - model 6950 - was one of the most popular, best selling and easy to produce. The wooden construction consisted of an individual parts which were easily assembled together at the factory. The padded seating is another part which is simply screwed to the wooden frame from both sides. The chair has got a very expressive and dynamic form made up from the composition of the armrests and the seat, yet it is very comfortable to use. This particular piece has got the original 1960’s fabric. The wooden frame has been recently refurbished to its former glory. Our experienced craftsman has carried the restoration to the highest standard, using French polishing technique and Shellac varnish to hand finish the entire piece. The original green/yellow patterned fabric is in very good vintage condition with no holes, however there is some slight colour fade (mainly at the backside of the backrest) and some light wear on parts of fabric acquired over the years. Reference : 242437