avant-garde cantilever flatsteel armchair by SAB, Prague, ca. 1932 – design by Josef Havlíček

This avant-garde cantilever armchair was produced around 1932 by the Prague-based steel furniture manufacturer SAB, following a design by Czech architect Josef Havlíček, one of the defining figures of Prague Modernism. The chair belongs to the most experimental seating concepts developed in Czechoslovakia during the early 1930s.

Its construction combines nickel-plated flatsteel with nickel-plated tubular steel, resulting in a strikingly architectural and technically expressive structure. While the structural logic recalls early flat-steel experiments by Mies van der Rohe—particularly the Brno chair—the present design follows its own Prague functionalist trajectory. It is more radical in reduction, more open to unconventional material solutions, and characteristic of the progressive mindset of the Czechoslovak avant-garde.

A comparable example of this cantilever typology was shown in the exhibition
“Hej Rup! Czech Avant-Garde in the Context of European Modernism”
at the Bröhan Museum in Berlin, underscoring the historical and museal significance of the design.

For presentation, the armchair was re-upholstered with historical, intentionally patinated leather. The colour and tactile qualities correspond closely to period-appropriate materials, offering a warm, lived-in counterpoint to the cool precision of the nickel-plated frame.

This chair represents a highly distinctive document of Prague functionalist and avant-garde design. It is well suited for advanced private collections as well as institutional contexts focusing on early modern steel furniture and Central European modernism.

Literature:
Hej Rup! Die tschechische Avantgarde im Kontext der Europäischen Moderne, Deutscher Kunstverlag, Cat. no. 38, p. 76 (related typology combining flat steel and round tube).