nut, veneered, leather seat, stamped: P. H. 13766 (Prague Hradcany)/ PASEKPRAHA XI.- 910; partly restored, signs of age and use; height 84.5 cm, width 48 cm, depth 52 cm, height of seat 42.5 cm. The chair is accompanied by the book Plecnik, Die Prager Burg, Architektur im Ringturm XLIV, edited by Adolph Stiller, Vienna 2016. Designed for the apartment of Alice G. Masary, Tomas G. Masaryk’s daughter, at Prague Castle, where this chair was placed in the so-called “Salon of Embroideries”. In the 1970s, the rooms at Prague Castle were successively modernised and the old furniture replaced by new one.“... The true value of these historical pieces was not appreciated. During this time there was a massive transfer of this furniture from the castle to other institutions, or the pieces were sold to antique shops.” (Martin Hrda, director, Art Collection at Prague Castle) The present chair was exhibited in: Die Prager Burg/ Prague Castle & Plecnik, Architektur im Ringturm, Vienna 2016.

Literature:
A. Stiller, Die Prager Burg/Prague Castle Plecnik, Salzburg-Vienna 2016, ill. p. 149.

Provenance:
originally Prague Castle, Alice G. Masaryk apartment, lady’s drawing room, sold in the 1960s/70s -
Private collection, Vienna, since the late 1980s.

Tomas G. Masaryk, the first president of Czechoslovakia, chose the Slovenian architect Josef Plecnik for a large-scale reconstruction of Prague Castle. He considered Plecnik the best guarantor for symbolically translating the ideas of the new democracy into modern architecture. His daughter Alice was the link to the artist, and the overall concept for the castle’s modernisation was developed in close collaboration with her. Plecnik designed the chair offered for sale here for her Ladies’ Salon.