2 minute read
Eisengarn
An innovation of tradition
Today, the Wassily chair is most often seen bearing its iconic leather straps. This, however, is not true to Breuer’s original conception or prototypes. Indeed, it was not until the late 1940s that leather was introduced to the Wassily chair. Prior to this late intervention, Breuer’s chairs featured a robust canvas made from Eisengarn: a material whose story extends well beyond Breuer and the Bauhaus.
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Eisengarn, literally meaning “iron yarn”, was invented and manufactured in Germany in the mid 1800s. As a highly durable, waxed-cotton thread it was used for making everything from shoelaces to hat strings and ribbons. In 1927, Bauhaus weaver and textile designer Margaretha Reichardt began experimenting with Eisengarn, as she often did with the yarns and fabrics she used to create fabric collages. In so doing, she improved the quality of the Eisengarn thread, producing robust and stable bands that she then developed into a new canvas material. It is this improved material that Breuer adopted for the back, seat and armrests of his tubular steel chairs.
Endnotes
Text taken and adapted from:
Coyote, “Marcel Breuer: Hungarian-American Designer, Sculptor, and Architect”, The Art Story.
Potts, “Meet the Wassily Chair, an Icon of Modern Design Whose History Dates Back to the 1920s”, Better Homes and Gardens.
No name, “Product Story”, Knoll.
Text taken and adapted from:
Coyote, “Marcel Breuer: Hungarian-American Designer, Sculptor, and Architect”, The Art Story.
No name, “Product Story”, Knoll.
No name, “Wassily Armchair”, The Met
Images
Title
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No name, “Product Story”, Knoll.
No name, “Everything Is Design: Revisiting the Legacy of the Bauhaus School”, Yatzer.
Potts, “Meet the Wassily Chair, an Icon of Modern Design Whose History Dates Back to the 1920s”, Better Homes and Gardens.
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No name, “Photographs of Bauhaus in the 1920s”, Flashbak.
Ibid.
No name, “Club Chair”, Vienna Museum of Applied Arts.
Photomontage and imagery by Andrew Holt.
No name, “Everything Is Design: Revisiting the Legacy of the Bauhaus School”, Yatzer.
No name, “Pair of Marcel Breuer for Knoll “Wassily” Chair Frames”, 1stDibs.
Photomontage and imagery by Andrew Holt.
No name, “Vier Bauhausmädels”, Kunstmuseen Erfurt
Imagery by Andrew Holt.
Ibid.
Bibliography
Coyote, Nicholas, “Marcel Breuer: Hungarian-American Designer, Sculptor, and Architect”, The Art Story. Accessed: 15.02.2023.
Drost, Magdalena, Bauhaus: 1919-1933, Bauhaus-Archiv Museum für Gestaltun, 1998.
Otto, Elizabeth, & Rössler, Patrick, Bauhaus Women: A Global Perspective, Bloomsbury, 2019.
Potts, Leanne, “Meet the Wassily Chair, an Icon of Modern Design Whose History Dates Back to the 1920s”, Better Homes and Gardens. Accessed: 15.02.2023.
No name, “Club Chair”, Vienna Museum of Applied Arts. Accessed: 15.02.2023.
No name, “Club chair (model B3)”, MoMA. Accessed: 15.02.2023.
No name, “Everything Is Design: Revisiting the Legacy of the Bauhaus School”, Yatzer. Accessed: 15.02.2023.
No name, “Pair of Marcel Breuer for Knoll “Wassily” Chair Frames”, 1stDibs. Accessed: 15.02.2023.
No name, “Photographs of Bauhaus in the 1920s”, Flashbak. Accessed: 15.02.2023.
No name, “Product Story”, Knoll. Accessed: 15.02.2023.
No name, “Vier Bauhausmädels”, Kunstmuseen Erfurt. Accessed: 15.02.2023.
No name, “Wassily Armchair”, The Met. Accessed: 15.02.2023.
