Spanning nearly four decades, the history of the Tyler workshops is a rich and complex one, weaving together artists, printers, papermakers, industry collaborators, photographers, writers, film makers, curators, family and friends. Over the years, many of these people sat, mused and even worked in an antique barber’s chair carefully selected by Ken Tyler for the studio. In today’s post, Tyler reveals the story of this unusual workshop fixture. In 1965, when I set up the Gemini Ltd. artist’s studio, I decided to have an antique Koken barber’s chair. It’s an ingenious throne-like device, levitating hydraulically and swiveling, as well as reclining. In classic barbershop lore from the turn of the century, it was considered the pinnacle of innovation (1892 was when the pedaled version of the hydraulic lift device was introduced), elegance, comfort, and outstanding craftsmanship…an achievement in industrial design. Like the Eiffel Tower, it celebrates Viollet-le-Duc’s ideas of ‘honest structural expression and the embracing of modern technology.’
For me, it is the ideal place from which an artist can contemplate their work as it is pinned on the studio walls and scattered across the floor, within a workshop that also embraces modern technology. The antique dealer I originally spoke with informed me that Teddy Roosevelt had his hair cut in the chair I was purchasing. He demonstrated the hydraulics by having me sit, relax, and listen to him as he intoned,‘Going u-uu-uuu-uuup, 1st floor: shoes, booze, and nothing to lose. 2nd floor: pants, endless lessons in dance, wild romance. 3rd floor: tops, cigars right-outta-the-box, lookout for da cops. 4th floor: hats and crowns, place one upon your head to astound.’ Sure enough, the chair made me feel like a potentate…or a President. After all, the chair itself is a work of art, made from enameled cast iron parts, and nickeled steel. It has a spring cushion on the seat, covered in fine leather. There is a headrest that is adjustable, as well as a sophisticated articulated foot rest, that ornately carries the KOKEN name in its design.
In fact, the President model of the chair from 1910, which is the chair I chose, is pictured in the 1912 Koken Barber Supply catalogue in color, with The White House in the background. When I found myself setting up another artist’s studio upon opening Tyler Graphics in 1974, I once again decided to provide the ‘inner sanctum’ of the workshop with another Koken barber’s chair. This time, the antique dealer waxed poetic about how the model I was purchasing was more elegant by far than the one made famous in 1957, when the infamous mobster, Albert Anastasia, was groomed and then abruptly riddled with bullets while seated in one in the then swanky barbershop at the Park Sheraton Hotel in New York City. That particular ‘well ventilated’ chair became part of a mob memorabilia collection in St. Louis, until it was then purchased by legendary comedian Henny Youngman. Youngman sold the chair eventually to Artie Nash, a noted New York mob artifact collector. (By the way, I recently discovered that Nash was instrumental in placing the chair in the Las Vegas Mob Museum.)
Thankfully, the model gracing Tyler Graphics was from a gentler era, and carried curvilinear Art Nouveau ornamentation inspired by nature, including the pedestal, which gracefully carried the chair like a lotus blossom. Every artist working at Tyler Graphics gravitated to the chair, spending hours and days, and in Frank Stella’s case, years contemplating their artwork as it evolved. After we moved all operations to Singapore in 2001 and set up the Singapore Tyler Print Institute (which opened in 2002), the Tyler Graphics barber chair was re-installed there. Now it resides in Singapore.Antique Barber ChairBarber S ChairsBarbershop ChairsChairs AntiqueVictorian Cameos AntiquesVictorian TreasuresBarbershop EquipmentChair DatesWanted BarberForwardAntique Barber's Chair. I had one—extremely heavy! The oil leakage from the hydraulic lift mechanism finally convinced me to let it go...Barber Dental ChairsAntique Barber ChairsChairs BarberHottowel ShavesShaves CutsShavingsaloon ServicesServices IncludeBarber S BoardBarber IngForwardVintage Koken Barber Chair, still in service after 130 years!
Sign up to receive the latest food, travel and dining news direct from Gourmet Traveller headquarters.‘The owner liked collecting weird chairs, then he opened a hotel so he’d have somewhere to put them,’ marketing manager Wahidah tells me. The obsession has taken over, and the Unlisted Collection now has hotels in Singapore, London and Shanghai. And a lot of odd chairs. I stayed in Wanderlust Hotel, formerly a Chinese school in Singapore’s Little India (that in itself was quirky), which now features perhaps the most ‘out there’ interior design in town. They gave me the ‘Yellow Submarine Room’. It’s a song, by the Beatles, according to the yellow neon sign above my bed. Yellow walls, yellow curtains, yellow tiles everywhere – under the claw foot bathtub, in the shower and even on the step up to my bed. Fittings and linen were classy, the grapefruit shampoo in the shower was a nice touch, and after a few tries I even managed to get the in-room Nespresso machine to work.
If George Clooney can do it, so can I. ‘None of the architects had ever done a hotel interior before,’ Wahidah informs me. Three different firms were each given a floor to work on, and eagerly set out to make an impression. The design companies’ names give you the idea…Asylum, Phunk and ffurious. You may not find it totally relaxing to sleep in a loft designed to resemble a treehouse (the cleaning staff hate it too), or to sit on a bench of typewriter keys, but it is fun, and I can guarantee you will have bragging rights.Please pass it on! Sorry, we cannot find the page you requested. Were you looking for information... Apply for Season Parking Alternatively you could use our "Search" function or our "FAQ" located at the top right of every page.Andis ProFoil Lithium Titanium Foil Shaver Barber Mate Clipper Holder (holds 4 Clippers) Wahl 5 Star Cordless Detailer Trimmer $360.00 This product is not sold online.Call Mike at 1(800)...