Know like a pro: Norman Cherner


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Classic seating: The plycraft Cherner Chair has been reissued
© Cherner Chair Company

Norman Cherner (1920- 1987, American) designed some of the most remarkable and timeless pieces of 20th century furniture. He taught at both Columbia University’s Fine Arts Department and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

What’s he famous for?

The sinuous Plycraft Cherner Armchair in bent plywood, which was created in 1958. A new model, issued from his original designs by the Cherner Chair Company, which is run by his sons out of Connecticut in the US, will set you back around £1045.00 from Cherner Chair. An original from the original production run will cost between £1000 - £1200 from Twentieth Century Antiques.

Keep a look out for...

Everything from glassware, architecture and fabrics through to his Konwiser line of furniture and lighting. Cherner also wrote a number of books including How to Build a House for Less than $6000 (1960) and Make Your Own Modern Furniture (1953).

Norman Cherner in his studio, 1968

Insider fact:

Cherner’s low cost pre- fabricated homes after WWII made great design affordable. He was no design snob.

Sentence to drop in at a dinner party?

How ironic that for a designer who wanted to create for the masses, you can’t get a chair for less than 1000 quid.

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