Armchair

This chair makes innovative use of industrial glass and metal fittings. The metal fittings are of a type more commonly used in shop fitting. In the late 1920s Denham Maclaren worked for the interior decorator Arundell Clarke. He undertook display and exhibition work for them. This experience may have led him to experiment with glass as a material for furniture. Maclaren's chair was not only fashionable in its use of glass, but also in the choice of zebra skin upholstery. Many designers used animal skins of all kinds between the First and Second World Wars. The use of zebra added an exotic, even Surrealist, touch.

Armchair · London · ca. 1930. Glass, metal fittings, and zebra skin upholstery. By Maclaren, Denham. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.