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

Current bid

KES 100,000

7 bids · Reserve not yet met

Time left

2m 51s

Closes 02:06

How bidding works

Bids · 7

  1. KES 100,000 Paddle 283 Online 01:59
  2. KES 95,000 Paddle 443 Online 01:58
  3. KES 90,000 Paddle 168 Online 01:54
  4. KES 85,000 Paddle 400 Online 01:54
  5. KES 80,000 Paddle 152 Online 01:53
  6. KES 75,000 Paddle 404 Online 01:53
  7. KES 70,000 Paddle 335 Online 01:34

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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