Secondly, and most intriguingly, because, in recent times, exhibitions and auctions across the globe of Jeanneret’s furniture pieces made in/for India, including this humble seater, have attracted A-listers and fetched five-digit dollar/euro amounts.
Jeanneret’s journey in India, though, didn’t begin as a furniture designer. Post-World War II, he came to India to join his cousin and partner at his architectural practice since 1922, Charles Edouard Jeanneret or as you would possibly recognise, Le Corbusier. In the 1950s, they were commissioned to devise the urban (civic) plan and architecture for the modernist city of Chandigarh.
While in Chandigarh, Jeanneret’s most remarkable contributions were designing the 14 categories of mass-housing projects as well as devising minimalist furniture, both independently as well as in collaboration with Le Corbusier. Today, The Chandigarh Chair is considered Jeanneret’s most prized creations. So much so that 12 pieces of this chair recently found a home in a Kardashian residence.