Diamond Chair Miniature - / Bertoia (1952) by Vitra Metal

“Located in Weil am Rhein in Germany (near the Swiss border), the Vitra Design Museum is a privately funded museum that showcases the unique design collection of the Swiss furniture manufacturer Vitra. The Vitra Design Museum collection is one of the most important furniture design collections in the world. It contains around 7,000 pieces of furniture, more than a thousand lighting pieces, numerous archives and the inherited series of famous designers such as Charles & Ray Eames, Verner Panton and Alexander Girard. The Vitra Design Museum's collection of miniatures, which started more than 20 years ago, is an illustration of the milestones in the history of design. This collection encompasses the entire history of industrial furniture from the 1800s to present day, creating a pathway through time leading to the creation of modern seating, from historicism and Art Nouveau to Bauhaus and New Objectivity, Radical Design and Postmodernism to present day. A magnificent collection of emblematic works is presented to you. These chairs that have taken their place in history all carry the memories of their times: Materials, shapes, colours. They reveal the often forgotten dreams of their time, the (sometimes utopian) aspirations of their designers, but above all to their vision of the world. The chairs are reproduced on a one-sixth scale and faithfully replicate the original historical model down to the smallest details in the design, material and colour shade. This precise detail is also applied to the wood grain, the reproduction of the screws and the meticulous methods of handcrafting. These miniatures are not only valuable collector's items, but are also an educational tool for universities, design schools and architects. Rolf Fehlbaum, President of Vitra: “We can deduce and understand an era, its social order, its materials, its techniques and its taste by observing its chairs. I should point out that no other everyday object offers such diversity. '’ Harry Bertoia is a Italian-born designer, painter and sculptor with American nationality. He is renowned for his sculptural, organic and functional approach to design. Passionate about sculpture, he transposes the techniques of this art to create chairs with a sculptural design. They therefore have the particular feature of being made of braided steel wire, which offers an original and seductive perception of shapes, space and geometry. The "Diamond chair" (1952), the "Bird chair" (1956) and the "Barstool chair" (1952) are his most outstanding works. Unusual, functional and daring, this diamond-shaped metal structure is constructed from an ergonomic mesh supported by four infinitely filiform legs, and seems to float. Imagined as a metal drainer, the famous seat is "mainly made of air, like a sculpture, and crossed by space", explains the designer. The hand-bent and welded wires are the basis of the reputation of this geometrically curved work, which is said to be one of the lightest chairs in the history of furniture, but also one of the best-sellers. ".