Dating Cesca/Breuer Chairs

[Retro Spectator]

How would you find out when a Cesca/Breuer Chair was made? I found this chair at the thrift store today, but I don't know when it's from. Unfortunately, I don't know much about when these chairs were made, but by the looks of it, I'm guessing it's post WWII, as it appears to be Mid-Century Modern, probably late 50s or 60s, but I could be wrong. It seems that the seat was replaced, as all the other ones online have woven seats. The seat on mine was made by what seems to be a defunct company called Joseph's Inc., in Frankfort Indiana. It has a date of delivery spot on it, but sadly, no one wrote on it. The bottom of the seat looks pretty old though. Perhaps the seat is from the 60s?

 

[robrinay]

Look for clues- If they were from the 50's or 60's the foam would probably be turning powdery and dropping through the bottom of the
seat - which given the label appears to be original and has not been re-upholstered. Also the prescence of staples tends to denote 1970's or later as earlier upholsterers (1950's) would have been more likely to have used tacks and natural fibres such as cotton flock and hessian rather than Polyurethane foam. While its true that this style sometimes had caned seats they were also made with cushioned seats - like this one. The really posh licensed versions would have been made by top makers such as Vitra,Herman Miller and of course more commonly Knoll and unless re-upholstered would be labelled as such so check for labels and engraved marks. High quality versions will not have plastic caps like the cheaper copies in the ends of the metal tubes but will appear to have smooth continuous chrome domes. Bear in mind that the style was massively copied often with subtle changes in order to avoid litigation from the owners of the design (Knoll I believe) and that since Breuer came up with the original design - or was it Mart Stam? There have been many similar chairs designed by others so yours actually may not be a Cesca. Good luck!

 

[Retro Spectator]

Took a look at the chair. It seems that the caps in the top of the chair are flat, but they are not plastic. They feel like chrome coated steel, or aluminum.

I couldn't find any powder dropping out of the bottom, but I didn't study it that closely.

I couldn't find any labels, besides the one on the bottom of the seat.

I wonder if mine is an American made knock off, made in Indiana?

 

[robrinay]

If the caps are metal then that's a sign of good quality. As to maker- if the seat is original then it was made by Joseph's