Close up on Featherston [Pictured: Contour Ottoman, Scape Armchair & Dining Chair D350]While there are many amazing 20th century designs out there that we like and respect, for us Featherston is the only name we really crave. Local furniture designer Grant Featherston (1922 – 1995) is best known for the Contour Series, from 1951-1955. This work was inspired by curves that mirror the human body and was created using a self-developed method of moulding plywood. [Pictured: Chaise Lounge Z300, Contour Chair R152 in cown hide and velour & Settee RS161] In 1957 Featherston was appointed as consultant designer at local Melbourne manufacture, Aristoc Industries. During this partnership they developed many iconic Australian pieces including the Mitzi (1957) & Scape (1960). In 1966 he and his wife Mary became business partners and together with Aristoc Industries they created the Expo 67 Talking Chair (1967) and the Stem chair (1969). The Stem chair took over 2 years to reach production stage as they were continually searching for more ways to create affordable quality designs, experimenting with different manufacturing techniques and finding the most efficient way to use their materials.
At the time the Stem chair was one of the most technologically sophisticated chairs in Australia. [Pictured: Mitzi & Scape Armchair]After the collapse of Aristoc, the Poli fibreglass chair was made by Polyfiber Products (1971). The Charlton lounge [comprising of a two seater, two corner chairs, one individual chair and a rectangular ottoman] was created out of polyurethane foam/ABS plastic/wool (1973). [Pictured: Expo 67 Talking Chair & Stem Dining Setting]In 1987 Gordon Mather Industries purchased the rights to reproduce a number of different Featherston designs. They will also restore originals and we've heard a lot of glowing reports of their work. Anything marked with a Featherston stamp and in original condition will fetch you a small fortune on eBay- recently a pair of armed Contour chairs that were in desperate need of restoration sold for $18,000 and a set of 6 dining chairs for $20,000. However, anything without the stamp but obviously Featherston can get between $600 and $7,000 depending on what the item is.
Currently, Mary Featherston is a designer of creative primary school spaces and children's storage using the same ideals that both she and Grant shared. You can visit her website here.[photos from Gordon Mather Industries & Powerhouse Museum]Other similar posts: Close Up on Hans WegnerGrant Featherston Appreciation Page added 4 new photos.A small mystery and perhaps a bit of provenance! This beautiful RS161, whilst being recovered in a vintage wool, was discovered to have some interesting sketches and scribblings on the underside. There's a sketch of what looks like a chaise lounge and also a signature and date. I think it says 24/11/52. Can anyone make out the signature?Grant Featherston Appreciation Page via Grandfather's AxeA great opportunity to snap up these beautiful R152's!ORIGINAL VINTAGE R152 CONTOUR CHAIR BY GRANT FEATHERSTON - RETRO EAMES ERASee allGrant Featherston Appreciation PageHave a look at this beauty - a 1956 Featherston Townhouse settee. Original condition including some of the 'payment plan' paperwork!
.auGrant Featherston Appreciation PageA customer of ours popped in one day and told us he had a sideboard that he believed was by Grant Featherston - he sent us the photo the next day and indeed it is! I've only seen a smaller version of this sideboard in the Featherston Chairs book but to see this is pretty amazing! Has anyone got one? Has anyone seen one in the flesh? It's pretty special I reckon - don't you? Grant Featherston Appreciation PageDid you know that Mary Featherston is a wonderful designer in her own right? Here's an example of one of her pieces, a dining chair she designed for Moderntone of Melbourne. 1 - 25 of 110 ads for "used chairs for sale" in Melbourne Region within Dining ChairsNORTHCOTE SHOWROOMArmchairs, Lounge Chairs, Side Chairs New containers of Danish and other European furniture arriving every month. Website updated daily.171 High Street, Northcote - 03 9489 8648 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ RECENTLY SOLD ITEMS
The largest collection of furniture by Australia’s best known designer Grant Featherston (1922-1995) ever to be auctioned – a significant event for design enthusiasts, collectors and creative people – is part of the Leonard Joel Modern Design sale from 6.30pm Thursday November 10 at 333 Malvern Road, South Yarra. Assembled by Melbourne architect Cameron Lyon, the venture began as a project to build an encyclopaedic collection of the designer’s works.The Lyon family has long been regarded as the “go to” experts for particularly fine example of Featherston’s works and over the years the collection has been edited several times to remove all duplicates.What remains is a core collection of iconic examples some of which have rarely, if at all, been seen outside institutions that house his works.Born in Geelong, Featherston – whose chair designs became icons of the Atomic Age – pioneered the new Australian modernist movement.His chair designs – the most famous of which is the Contour Chair R160 – encapsulate the correlation between architecture and bespoke interiors.
Featherston marketed his modernist chairs through various art galleries and his work has been featured in several museum retrospectives of post-war furniture – including the National Gallery of Victoria 2013 exhibition, Mid-Century Modern Australian Furniture Design.Now highly collectable, since 2013 his creations have attained high prices at auction.Leonard Joel, which for the past three years has explored through its modern design auctions the symbiotic relationship between architecture and furniture design as an acknowledged trend for collectors, believes this auction provides an unparalleled opportunity for buyers to view the comprehensive range of Featherston works.Several pieces stand out including the Featherston Obo ball chair (Lot 11 ) designed in 1974 and inspired by iconic Italian designs from the 1960s.The beautifully shaped Wing chair (Lot 20 ) appears on the cover of the “NGV Featherston Chairs” book written by Terence Lane and auction goers should not ignore the extremely rare 51 Easy chair (Lot 40 ).