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 90,000

5 bids · Reserve not yet met

Time left

9m 28s

Closes 13:06

How bidding works

Bids · 5

  1. KES 90,000 Paddle 487 Online 12:54
  2. KES 85,000 Paddle 271 Online 12:52
  3. KES 80,000 Paddle 335 Online 12:52
  4. KES 75,000 Paddle 427 Online 12:43
  5. KES 70,000 Paddle 400 Online 12:33

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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