Nadia Bellingeri
Senior Sale Coordinator
Lot 169TP
A Karuselli 'swivelling' armchair and footstool
Designed by Yrjö Kukkapuro, made by Avarte
14 December 2022, 10:00 GMT
London, New Bond StreetSold for £11,475 inc. premium
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Charlie Thomas
Group Head, Private Collections, Furniture & Works of Art, U.K
Madeleine Cater
Cataloguer
A Karuselli 'swivelling' armchair and footstool
Designed by Yrjö Kukkapuro, made by Avarte
Upholstered in brown leather with white lacquered fibreglass, labelled to the underside of both the chair and stool: Design Yrjö Kukkapuro, AVARTE Made in Finland, together with a blue cushion depicting Sir Terence lying in the chair, also with a later plinth base for the chair, the chair: 80cm wide x 92cm deep x 92cm high, (31in wide x 36in deep x 36in high) the footstool: 54cm wide, the later plinth 8.5cm high (3)
Upholstered in brown leather with white lacquered fibreglass, labelled to the underside of both the chair and stool: Design Yrjö Kukkapuro, AVARTE Made in Finland, together with a blue cushion depicting Sir Terence lying in the chair, also with a later plinth base for the chair, the chair: 80cm wide x 92cm deep x 92cm high, (31in wide x 36in deep x 36in high) the footstool: 54cm wide, the later plinth 8.5cm high (3)
Footnotes
Recorded as being a favourite of Sir Terence's, the Karuselli chair was designed by Yrjo Kukkapuro in 1964 and was first launched at the Cologne Furniture Fair in 1965. Made by Avarte in Finland, it quickly become an icon of design and epitomised the Swinging Sixties.
As legend has it, Kukkapuro came up with the design for the chair after falling asleep in the snow. When he awoke, the snow had perfectly sculpted itself around his body and thus acted as the original blueprint for the shape of the chair.
Of the Karuselli, Sir Terence said: 'it is the most comfortable chair in the world... I lie back in it with a glass of whisky and a cigar and immediately feel that life is worth living.'