Marcel Breuer lounge chair

The Isokon Long Chair is a sculptural chaise longue designed by the Hungarian-born architect and designer Marcel Breuer and produced by the Isokon Furniture Company in London. The chair is constructed from molded laminated birch plywood, presenting a continuous, flowing silhouette composed of organic curves and generous contours. The surfaces display a warm amber tone with subtle wood grain variation throughout, lending a rich and tactile quality to the piece. The form consists of an undulating seat and backrest, accompanied by elegantly sweeping armrests and a matching contoured footrest, all supported on broad plywood runners.

This example is in good condition with visible signs of use and age. The surfaces show light wear, minor scratches, and some dry cracks consistent with the nature of the material and its vintage character. The construction remains sound, with the original Isokon Furniture Co. manufacturer’s label still affixed beneath the seat, marked with patent and registration numbers and the inscription Made in England.

Marcel Breuer (1902–1981) originally trained at the Bauhaus in Weimar and later served as one of its key figures in modern furniture design. In 1935, Breuer was recruited by Jack Pritchard of the Isokon Furniture Company in London, at the recommendation of Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius. The Isokon Long Chair marked Breuer’s first project for Isokon, building upon earlier experiments with bent tubular steel and aluminum furniture. Its plywood construction was directly influenced by innovations in laminated wood pioneered by Finnish designer Alvar Aalto, which Breuer encountered in London exhibitions in the early 1930s.

Isokon Furniture Company, founded in 1935 by Jack Pritchard, specialized in modern plywood furniture. The firm’s vision was to promote progressive design in Britain, leveraging Pritchard’s connections to the plywood industry. Production of the Long Chair began in 1936. Its ergonomic profile, described in period catalogues as offering “scientific relaxation to every part of the body,” was based on Breuer’s earlier aluminum reclining chair for Embru-Werke. The Isokon Long Chair has since become an icon of modernist design, featured in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Swedish Museum of Furniture Design.

The chair measures 62 cm in width, 140 cm in length, and 77 cm in height, with a seat height of 20 cm. In imperial units, the dimensions are approximately 24.4 inches wide, 55.1 inches long, 30.3 inches high, with a seat height of 7.9 inches.