c. 1916-1935

Side Chair

Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for the banquet room of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan, the hexagonal profile of this side chair corresponded to the hexagonal motifs in the room's cornice and ceiling. The modern blue upholstery imitates remnants of the original, which complemented the room's painted wall decoration of stylized peacocks. Wright's extensive Imperial Hotel complex melded indigenous Japanese architectural motifs with the fundamentals of his own style. The chairs were generally too small and fragile to withstand constant use, especially by large visitors, and were frequently broken. Even removed from its original context, the anthropomorphic design stands out as a sculptural achievement.