207 - GHYCZY, Peter (born 1940) GHYCZY SELECTION (Edited by)

GHYCZY, Peter (born 1940) GHYCZY SELECTION (Edited by) Armchair known as the “Garden Egg” or “Senftenberg Egg,” featuring an ovoid shell made of solid white-lacquered polyurethane foam, opening via a hinged lid that forms the backrest. Foam padding covered with red wool fabric (with chips and scratches in the lacquer). Model created in 1968 (recent edition). Height: 98 cm (backrest raised) – Width: 84 cm – Depth: 74 cm - History: Peter Ghyczy designed this chair in 1968 at the design office of Elastogran, a BASF subsidiary specializing in polyurethane; the shell was intended to demonstrate the possibilities of solid foam molding. The license was transferred to the German Democratic Republic, where VEB Synthesewerk Schwarzheide, near Senftenberg, began manufacturing it in 1971, hence its nickname, the “Senftenberg Egg.” Production lasted only three years, as the process of painting the shell was never successfully mastered. A 1971 example is housed at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (inv. W.8-2007).