I just posted a very famous and hard-to-find mid-century modern chair on eBay, and I wanted to let everyone here know about it. These come up for sale very rarely, and usually only at the high-end collectors' furniture auction and gallery houses.
The eBay auction is for an original "Sheriff" chair, designed by the designer Sergio Rodrigues in 1957. The chair won first prize at the International Furniture Competition in Cantu, Italy, in 1961. On this occasion ISA, a company in Bergamo, Italy, started to produce and export it to various countries.
Also known as the "Mole" soft armchair, it features a beautiful sculptural teak frame with lathe-turned rounded legs which supports a large hammock-like tufted cushion in black leather. The cushion is suspended by pegged adjustable leather straps. This item is badged with the original metal tag and the frame has the original finish. Dimensions are 39" wide x 35" long x 29.5" high.
This particular chair was purchased new in Italy in 1961 by my grandfather, Bill Hyde, the designer of the Anchor Steam Beer label, several U.S. postage stamps, and lots of modern advertising art in the
1950's and 1960's. He furnished his downtown San Francisco studio with all the coolest Eames and Herman Miller pieces including Herman Miller cabinets, Eiffel Tower and aluminum Eames chairs, Howard Miller clocks, slat tables, and every other item you can imagine.The eBay item number for this chair is "6549222144" and the auction closes on August 5, 2005 at 9:15 PM (it is a 10-day auction). I started the item at $1.00 with no reserve. Here is the link: