Terms and conditions of use
Armchair
(c. 1937)
Medium
bamboo, brass
Measurements
(74.0 × 55.0 × 67.0 cm)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, NGV Supporters of Asian art and NGV Foundation, 2021
Gallery location
Level 1, NGV International
About this work
Ubunji Kidokoro was a designer for Mitsukoshi, Japan’s first department store, founded in 1904. Kidokoro’s bamboo cantilever Armchair was manufactured by Mitsukoshi and became one of the store’s iconic chairs of the period. Subtly referencing the natural materials and techniques associated with Japan’s Mingei arts and crafts movement, the work takes structural inspiration from Finnish designer Alvar Aalto’s (1898–1976) earlier cantilevered armchair Model no. 31, 1931. Kidokoro’s armchair was influential on future bamboo cantilever seating designs by French designer-architect Charlotte Perriand (1903–99), who visited Japan in 1940.