Lounge chair, c. 1965. Teak and woven cane.
Lot 4

Nairobi workshop (1950s–1970s)

Lounge chair, c. 1965

Teak and woven cane

78 × 68 × 80 cm

Estimate KES 140,000–200,000

Bidding

Sold

KES 140,000

Hammer price. Buyer's premium of 20% and VAT on the premium are added.

How bidding works

Bids · 11

  1. KES 140,000 Paddle 483 Online 23:05
  2. KES 130,000 Paddle 400 Online 23:05
  3. KES 120,000 Paddle 283 Online 23:05
  4. KES 110,000 Paddle 427 Online 23:04
  5. KES 100,000 Paddle 343 Online 23:04
  6. KES 95,000 Paddle 472 Online 23:02
  7. KES 90,000 Paddle 284 Online 23:01
  8. KES 85,000 Paddle 152 Online 23:00
  9. KES 80,000 Paddle 124 Online 22:56
  10. KES 75,000 Paddle 315 Online 22:54
  11. KES 70,000 Paddle 370 Online 22:33

About the work

A low lounge chair with a sloping cane back and seat in a slender teak frame, its arms ending in flat, rounded paddles. One of a group made for a guest house in Muthaiga and kept together until 2019.

Condition

Good. The cane has been rewoven. Some fading to the teak.

Provenance

A guest house, Muthaiga; private collection, Nairobi.

The artist

In the years either side of independence, a handful of joinery workshops in Nairobi's Industrial Area made modern furniture in teak, mahogany and cane for new houses, offices and hotels. Few pieces were marked, and makers are rarely known, but the best of them are made as carefully as anything of their time.

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