Showrooms

Hessian Hills Child's Chair

Creator: Wharton Esherick
Offered by: Moderne Gallery

Description
In 1924, Esherick created a prototype for a child’s chair, now in the permanent Collection of the Wharton Esherick Museum, of which he would make six the following year. These chairs were made in lieu of tuition payment for his then nine-year-old daughter Mary, to accompany her to the newly minted progressive school for children in Croton, New York, known as the Hessian Hills School. In the fall of 1930 the School suffered a fire which took with it the chairs Esherick had delivered in 1925. Funded by insurance money, Esherick made fifteen replacement chairs in 1931. Around the time Esherick completed his chairs, William Lescaze and George Howe were selected to design a new school building. The outfitting of the classrooms with tubular chrome furniture may have led Esherick’s chairs to find new homes or uses. Three of the Hessian Hills School chairs are known to be extant, this one and two others with replaced leather seats and backs that Moderne Gallery sold to the permanent Collection of the Modernism Museum Mount Dora. Another example of the chair, made at the same time for Helene Koerting Fischer, is now in the Collection of Mansfield (Bob) Bascom.

More Information

Documentation:	Documented elsewhere (similar item)
Period:	1920-1949
Materials:	Red oak and leather (seat replaced to match the original back)
Creation Date:	1931
Styles / Movements:	Modern, Mid Century
Dealer Reference #:	774
Incollect Reference #:	736234

Dimensions

W.	15 in;	H.	26.5 in;	D.	15.5 in;
W.	38.1 cm;	H.	67.31 cm;	D.	39.37 cm;

Seat H.	16.75 in;
Seat H.	42.55 cm;

Message from Seller:

Welcome to Moderne Gallery, located in Philadelphia, PA, where we have been showcasing high-quality vintage 20th-century furniture, lighting, and accessories since 1984. Visit us at 215.923.8536 or contact us via email at info@modernegallery.com to explore our extensive collection, including exclusive pieces by George Nakashima and other iconic designers.