Old Guy Chair

This is our “Old Guy” chair. It’s inspired by the mass-produced danwei-issue armchairs of the 1960s now scattered all over the streets of Beijing. Ours is based on a particularly sophisticated specimen purchased from a 75 year-old security guard near Ditan park, Old Li. Old Li would sit in it right in front of his danwei gate, just watching people walk by. It was the most sat-in chair we’d ever seen. Then he got issued an Ikea hand-me-down. And we got the priceless treasure. Lost & Found makes these one-by-one in Beijing, entirely by hand. Frame constructed of handrubbed oak; upholstered in a fine leather so that when your bum rubs on it every day for a year, it will get softer, darker, and smoother. Over 10 years, it will become a treasure in its own right.

Here we are at the workshop, making an “Old Guy” chair:

Here is an “Old Guy” chair in our shop on Guozijian:

First Edition: April 2008. 2 pieces.

Second Edition: June 2008. 4 pieces.

Third Edition: July 2008. 10 pieces.

Fourth Edition: July 2009. 10 pieces.

Fifth Edition: March 2010, forthcoming.