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Ray Komai (American, 1918–2010). <em>Side Chair</em>, ca. 1949. Molded walnut plywood, chromed metal, rubber, 30 1/2 x 22 x 22 1/4 in. (77.5 x 55.9 x 56.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund, 1994.156.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1994.156.1_bw.jpg)
Ray Komai (American, 1918–2010). Side Chair, ca. 1949. Molded walnut plywood, chromed metal, rubber, 30 1/2 x 22 x 22 1/4 in. (77.5 x 55.9 x 56.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund, 1994.156.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1994.156.1_bw.jpg)
Ray Komai (American, 1918–2010). <em>Side Chair</em>, ca. 1949. Molded walnut plywood, chromed metal, rubber, 30 1/2 x 22 x 22 1/4 in. (77.5 x 55.9 x 56.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund, 1994.156.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1994.156.1_bw.jpg)

Ray Komai (American, 1918–2010). Side Chair, ca. 1949. Molded walnut plywood, chromed metal, rubber, 30 1/2 x 22 x 22 1/4 in. (77.5 x 55.9 x 56.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund, 1994.156.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1994.156.1_bw.jpg)

Ray Komai (American, 1918–2010). <em>Side Chair</em>, ca. 1949. Molded walnut plywood, chromed metal, rubber, 30 1/2 x 22 x 22 1/4 in. (77.5 x 55.9 x 56.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund, 1994.156.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1994.156.1_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Ray Komai (American, 1918–2010). Side Chair, ca. 1949. Molded walnut plywood, chromed metal, rubber, 30 1/2 x 22 x 22 1/4 in. (77.5 x 55.9 x 56.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund, 1994.156.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1994.156.1_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Ray Komai (American, 1918–2010). <em>Side Chair</em>, ca. 1949. Molded walnut plywood, chromed metal, rubber, 30 1/2 x 22 x 22 1/4 in. (77.5 x 55.9 x 56.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund, 1994.156.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1994.156.1_mark_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Ray Komai (American, 1918–2010). Side Chair, ca. 1949. Molded walnut plywood, chromed metal, rubber, 30 1/2 x 22 x 22 1/4 in. (77.5 x 55.9 x 56.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund, 1994.156.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1994.156.1_mark_bw_IMLS.jpg)

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Side Chair

Decorative Arts and Design

Ray Komai's molded plywood chair was manufactured in Brooklyn in 1949, using the latest American technology. Although European designers such as Marcel Breuer and Alvar Aalto designed plywood furniture in the 1930s, it was the Americans Charles and Ray Eames, in the years immediately after World War II, who realized the full potential of this material and bent one sheet of plywood in several directions. Komai's chair adds a sophisticated anthropomorphic twist. If you look closely, the chair's design suggests a human face.

DESIGNER Ray Komai, American, 1918–2010
MANUFACTURER J.G. Furniture Co., Inc.
MEDIUM Molded walnut plywood, chromed metal, rubber
  • Place Manufactured: Brooklyn, New York, United States
    • DATES ca. 1949
    DIMENSIONS 30 1/2 x 22 x 22 1/4 in. (77.5 x 55.9 x 56.5 cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Decorative Arts and Design
    ACCESSION NUMBER 1994.156.1
    CREDIT LINE Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Side chair. Molded walnut plywood, chromed metal and rubber. Ovoid continuous bent plywood seat and back with ovoid hollow at juncture of the seat and back which continues as narrow vertical void with flattened crest. Front splayed chromed tubular metal legs composed of one piece bent at right angle to support underside of seat; each splayed back leg bent at right angle at seat and soldered to continuous member of front legs. Metal support under seat with rubber strips beneath seat and horizontal chromed metal bar on back secured from front with two circular metal disks. Each leg with flattened metal circular pad. Condition: Good, veneer raised on proper left top seat seam, scratches and faded spots. Conservation report on file.
    EXHIBITIONS
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
    CAPTION Ray Komai (American, 1918–2010). Side Chair, ca. 1949. Molded walnut plywood, chromed metal, rubber, 30 1/2 x 22 x 22 1/4 in. (77.5 x 55.9 x 56.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund, 1994.156.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1994.156.1_bw.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 1994.156.1_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
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    Ray Komai (American, 1918–2010). <em>Side Chair</em>, ca. 1949. Molded walnut plywood, chromed metal, rubber, 30 1/2 x 22 x 22 1/4 in. (77.5 x 55.9 x 56.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Alfred T. and Caroline S. Zoebisch Fund, 1994.156.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1994.156.1_bw.jpg)

    TAGS

    furniture
    seating
    plywood
    chair
    bent
    wood
    side chair
    mid-century modern
    modern
    twin
    chrome
    Ray Komai
    brooklyn
    new york furniture
    new york
    IMLS
    bentwood
    Dramatic

    TAGS

    furniture
    seating
    plywood
    chair
    bent
    wood
    side chair
    mid-century modern
    modern
    twin
    chrome
    Ray Komai
    brooklyn
    new york furniture
    new york
    IMLS
    bentwood
    Dramatic

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