Cow chair
Publisher/Manufacturer : Niels Van Eijk
Production period : 1990's
Circa : 1996
Country of production : The Netherlands
Special features : It is held in the collection of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam; Droog’s archives also record examples at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Materials : Raw, untreated cowhide, without a frame, stitching or added reinforcement.
Dimensions : 40,5 x 69 x 37 cm
Condition : Very good condition
COL NVE 01
Designed in 1996–1997 by Dutch designer Niels van Eijk and promoted by Droog, the Cow Chair challenges the traditional distinction between structure, upholstery and decoration. Its massive, almost archaic silhouette is formed from a single cowhide, whose folds directly shape the backrest, seat, armrests and legs. The animal is no longer merely the source of a material used to cover the furniture: its skin becomes the furniture itself.
The manufacturing process requires no frame, stitching or added reinforcement. The raw, untreated hide is soaked in water, stretched around a mould and left to dry for approximately one week. As it contracts, it hardens and becomes sufficiently rigid to form a self-supporting shell. Folds, variations in colour and surface irregularities remain visible, making every chair necessarily unique.
It is held in the collection of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam; Droog’s archives also record examples at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Out of production
Designer :
Niels Van Eijk
Niels van Eijk is a singular figure in contemporary Dutch design, recognized for an experimental approach in which craftsmanship, innovation and the subversion of familiar forms come together. Trained in industrial design, he developed with Mireille van Eijk a practice that explores the boundaries between functional object, sculpture and narrative. Associated with the Dutch design movement of the 1990s, notably through his collaborations with Droog Design, he contributed to renewing the language of contemporary design through a critical and poetic approach to the object. His Cow Chair, designed in the early 1990s, illustrates this radical approach: by transforming a cowhide into the structural covering of a seat, it humorously and provocatively questions the relationships between nature, craftsmanship, industry and consumption. Produced in a limited edition, this now rare piece testifies to the importance of experimentation in Dutch design and occupies a special place in the recent history of contemporary furniture.
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Or by email by clicking here