David Rowland - Chair (8) - Howe 40/4 - Steel, Chrome, Fabric Square - Draft 1964
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Current bid
€ 500
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Expert
Selected by Alexander Fahl
Art historian with over 10 years' experience and expertise in Italian design.
Estimate € 900 - € 1,000
 | €500 | |
|---|---|---|
| €460 | |
| €440 | |
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Eight Howe 40/4 armchairs by David Rowland, with chromed steel frame and blue Kvadrat fabric, USA, designed in 1964 and dating to the 1990s, in excellent condition with minor signs of wear.
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Description from the seller
Nice 8-seat Howe 40/4 stackable armchairs in high-quality Kvadrat fabric in dark blue – David Rowland, USA, 1990s (design 1964)
As conference or dining room chairs.
With stacking trolley on request.
New price per chair in this variant and fabric option is just under €900.
There are more chairs available on request.
The 40/4 is one of the most important chair designs of the 20th century and is still regarded as an icon of functional industrial design. With its exceptionally slender silhouette and the cleverly engineered tubular steel frame, David Rowland created a design that fused elegance, stability, and functionality in an unprecedented way.
What’s remarkable is that David Rowland originally worked as an interior designer and was not part of the classical furniture designers of his time. Yet with this design, he created one of the most successful and influential chairs in design history – a piece of furniture that is still used worldwide today in conference centers, universities, museums, libraries, and public buildings.
The chair became famous for its revolutionary stackability – the original version could be stacked up to 40 high at a height of only four feet (about 1.22 m). This technical innovation gave the model its name 40/4 and set new standards in the objets d’art furniture sector. The armchair version offered here adopts the same elegant language of form and construction, but due to the armrests is stackable up to 25 high.
The edition offered here, with armrests, a chrome-plated steel frame, and high-quality fabric upholstery, is among the particularly comfortable and well-equipped variants of the line. Despite its delicate appearance, the chair is highly stable, offers excellent seating comfort, and features a timeless design that harmonizes with both modern and classic interiors.
A design classic whose shape has been produced largely unchanged for over six decades – an impressive testament to the exceptional quality and timelessness of this design.
Designer: David Rowland
Manufacturer: Howe
Origin: USA
Year: 1990s (design 1964)
Material: Chrome-plated steel, fabric (Kvadrat)
Width: 60.5 cm
Height: 77 cm
Seat height: 45.5 cm
Armrest height: 66 cm
Depth: 53 cm
As we deal in vintage furniture, signs of use are inevitable and part of the nature of pre-owned items. We therefore disclose only more noticeable flaws and damages with separate pictures. We are nevertheless always committed, to the best of our ability, to capturing the condition of the objects as accurately as possible.
The goods are subject to the margin scheme under § 25a UStG; no VAT is shown on the invoice.
Seller's Story
Since we can remember we felt attracted to beauty and exceptional things. Aesthetic has always been more than something superficial for us. It was something magic going much deeper than the surface, creating positive feelings and energies.
Harmonies, sacred proportions, colors and materials combined with time, create their very special energies and are mostly things that hardly can be described but always can be felt.
To define beauty would be far to philosophical, but we think, if something touches you by the way it looks and gives you good energy at the same time, then it would define our personal definition of beauty.
And if beauty is something that has no other purpose than making you feel good just by the way it looks, then beauty is something we surely do not want to miss in our lives.
We thank existence for giving us all those unique materials and designs and all the talented designers and craftsmen for bringing their visions and abilities to life and sharing it, to bring us purpose combined with joy.
We are glad to have the platform Catawiki where we can share our passion for extraordinary and beautiful things with like-minded people.
Bülent Usta & Sarah-Larissa Kolmeder
Translated by Google TranslateNice 8-seat Howe 40/4 stackable armchairs in high-quality Kvadrat fabric in dark blue – David Rowland, USA, 1990s (design 1964)
As conference or dining room chairs.
With stacking trolley on request.
New price per chair in this variant and fabric option is just under €900.
There are more chairs available on request.
The 40/4 is one of the most important chair designs of the 20th century and is still regarded as an icon of functional industrial design. With its exceptionally slender silhouette and the cleverly engineered tubular steel frame, David Rowland created a design that fused elegance, stability, and functionality in an unprecedented way.
What’s remarkable is that David Rowland originally worked as an interior designer and was not part of the classical furniture designers of his time. Yet with this design, he created one of the most successful and influential chairs in design history – a piece of furniture that is still used worldwide today in conference centers, universities, museums, libraries, and public buildings.
The chair became famous for its revolutionary stackability – the original version could be stacked up to 40 high at a height of only four feet (about 1.22 m). This technical innovation gave the model its name 40/4 and set new standards in the objets d’art furniture sector. The armchair version offered here adopts the same elegant language of form and construction, but due to the armrests is stackable up to 25 high.
The edition offered here, with armrests, a chrome-plated steel frame, and high-quality fabric upholstery, is among the particularly comfortable and well-equipped variants of the line. Despite its delicate appearance, the chair is highly stable, offers excellent seating comfort, and features a timeless design that harmonizes with both modern and classic interiors.
A design classic whose shape has been produced largely unchanged for over six decades – an impressive testament to the exceptional quality and timelessness of this design.
Designer: David Rowland
Manufacturer: Howe
Origin: USA
Year: 1990s (design 1964)
Material: Chrome-plated steel, fabric (Kvadrat)
Width: 60.5 cm
Height: 77 cm
Seat height: 45.5 cm
Armrest height: 66 cm
Depth: 53 cm
As we deal in vintage furniture, signs of use are inevitable and part of the nature of pre-owned items. We therefore disclose only more noticeable flaws and damages with separate pictures. We are nevertheless always committed, to the best of our ability, to capturing the condition of the objects as accurately as possible.
The goods are subject to the margin scheme under § 25a UStG; no VAT is shown on the invoice.
Seller's Story
Since we can remember we felt attracted to beauty and exceptional things. Aesthetic has always been more than something superficial for us. It was something magic going much deeper than the surface, creating positive feelings and energies.
Harmonies, sacred proportions, colors and materials combined with time, create their very special energies and are mostly things that hardly can be described but always can be felt.
To define beauty would be far to philosophical, but we think, if something touches you by the way it looks and gives you good energy at the same time, then it would define our personal definition of beauty.
And if beauty is something that has no other purpose than making you feel good just by the way it looks, then beauty is something we surely do not want to miss in our lives.
We thank existence for giving us all those unique materials and designs and all the talented designers and craftsmen for bringing their visions and abilities to life and sharing it, to bring us purpose combined with joy.
We are glad to have the platform Catawiki where we can share our passion for extraordinary and beautiful things with like-minded people.
Bülent Usta & Sarah-Larissa Kolmeder
Translated by Google TranslateDetails
Era
1900-2000
Title additional information
Draft 1964
Number of objects
8
Country of origin
United States
Model
Howe 40/4
Designer/artist/maker
David Rowland
Material
Fabric Square, Chrome, Steel
Colour
Blue
Condition
Excellent condition: barely used with minimal signs of wear
Height
77 cm
Width
60.5 cm
Depth
53 cm
Estimated period
1990-2000
Seating height
45.5 cm
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