Join SAH/SCC as we welcome back author Peter Wyeth to talk about industrial designer James Leonard. The mystery in question is of Leonard’s X202 chair, which was manufactured between 1947 and 1951. Yet there are none around, and legend has it that no one has ever seen one.
Leonard’s furniture—including desks—was made of aluminum and plywood and manufactured by Educational Supply Association (ESA) in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Leonard’s X201 model sold by the millions, as it was designed for students. X202 was the armchair version meant for teachers.
According to the Stevenage Museum, which is actively searching for the chair: “Almost every British bum of the period must have sat on a James Leonard chair and by 1950 the rest of the furniture industry lobbied parliament to change the rules for school furniture as the ESA aluminum range had a virtual monopoly and the rest simply couldn’t compete.”
British-born Leonard was elected a Fellow of the Society of Industrial Artists in 1947, due to the collection that contained the X202, but also due to his experience in mass production.
Peter Wyeth’s last SAH/SCC program, for his book The Lost Architecture of Jean Welz (DoppelHouse, 2022), traced a string of discoveries excavated from the most fragmentary evidence on the work of this Austrian architect (see page 5 to order the replay if you missed it). This program promises to do the same for James Leonard and the X202 chair.
The Mystery of the X202 and James Leonard—Sunday, July 21, 2024; 1-2:30 PM Pacific; $5.
Register here and pay via PayPal; Zoom link sent upon registration.
