Thursday, August 9, 2018

RUSSELL SPANNER Set of 4 CATALINA Chairs MID CENTURY MODERN Canadian

NOW SOLD Here is a scarcely seen set of 4 Catalina Series Side Chairs, designed and manufactured by the Spanner Products company of Toronto . Spanner Products was started by Russell Spanner. Spanner is Considered a pioneering Icon of Canadian modernism in furniture design producing icon pieces throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s, Russell Spanner designed pieces are tough to come by, and are highly sought after. Here we have 4 side chairs. Each chair features unique tapered leg stances and an almost cantilevered looking seat. The back rests are "Bowtie" in shape, bringing to mind the iconic dinning sets done by Heywood Wakefield in the 50’s in the United States. These still retain their original “Nutmeg “ finish that was offered by Spanner, as one of 3 color finish options. If the finish is not to your liking it would not be a very hard job to paint this into something that matches your décor. The vinyl seat covers are also original to the chairs as well. They key to these pieces are their very modern lines. Each Chair measures 32 inches tall at the back, 19 inches at widest point, 17 ½ inches height at the seat, 20 ½ inches deep measured off the wall. The Spanner labels are found on the undersides of each seat. As I mentioned these have their original finish and seat covers. The finish does have some spots of use wear, from where hands had moved the chairs over and over again in the same places over the years. The chairs do need a good cleaning if you wish to retain the original finish and covers. The chairs are structurally sound and are fantastic candidate for restoration, or contemporary updating with your choice of finish color and seat cover. Under appreciated for many years, Seduced and Abandoned, Virginia Wright's 1985 exhibition of Canadian furniture at The Art Gallery at Harbourfront brought renewed interest in Russell Spanner designs (and Canadian Modernist furniture in general) and more recently the “A Spanner in the Works , the Furniture of Russell Spanner 1950-1953” exhibit at the Power Plant Gallery in the 1990’s has added to the growing enthusiasm for collecting and appreciating these pieces. Here is your chance to own a scarce piece designed by what many consider to be the Charles Eames / George Nelson of Canada. I also have the dinning table from this series that i will be listing at a later date.