Interestingly, the 1950 bentwood chair by Real Dorica combines design elements of several of the chairs in this series. It has legs much like a stacking chair, plywood wing arms, and a separate back much like a molded plywood chair or a shell chair. Yet, to me, it belongs in this category because of its tulip shape.
Burke Tulip chairs were quite obviously inspired by Saarinen's Tulip chairs, and they often receive harsh derision as being blatant knock-offs, which I'm not sure is entirely fair. I hope this series of posts has succeeded in demonstrating that most designers, consciously or not, are influenced by pieces they consider beautiful. The work of venerated designers, such as Pierre Paulin's Little Tulip chair and Robin Day's Tub chair, clearly show more than their creators' passing familiarity with the work of those who came before them.
Even if "new" designs are not near-replicas of earlier designs...although some most certainly are...there can be no doubt that many designers have lifted an arm design here, a leg design there, sometimes creating furniture that is little more than a composite of all their favorite pieces.
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| Charles and Ray Eames DAX - 1948 hermanmiller.com |
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| Bentwood chair by Real Dorica - c. 1950 1stdibs.com |
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| Eero Saarinen Tulip chair - 1957 moma.org |
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| Burke Tulip chair - 1960s vandm.com |
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| Pierre Paulin Little Tulip chair - 1965 bonluxat.com |
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| Robin Day Tub chair - 1967 independent.co.uk |
