Historic object
Mechanical Table 33.12
Open Riesener’s 1778 table for Marie Antoinette: a crank raises its marquetry top while panels become a lectern, mirror and six compartments.
Objects · people · ideas
Furniture in motion
Folding frames and moving parts: objects designed to change shape, travel or make room.
6 entries in this collection
In this collection
Design
PK91 Folding Stool
See how Poul Kjærholm's 1961 PK91 uses an ancient X-frame, crossing steel ribbons, canvas and dovetailed corners to make metal behave like cabinetmaking.
Design
Plia folding chair
The story of Giancarlo Piretti’s Plia folding chair, its concentrated three-disc joint, the 1967 museum record and why a spare chair can deserve a place in the room.
Design
Niko Kralj Rex folding lounge chair
Rex offers a shaped wooden seat and a useful way to put it away. Niko Kralj combined curved, slotted plywood with folding, so a chair generous enough for sitting could make room for the rest of life.
Historic object
Egyptian Folding Stool 12.182.58
Look through the leather and crossed frame of Egyptian Folding Stool 12.182.58 to see how portable geometry could also become a visible language of dignity and office.
Historic object
Chinese Lacquer Folding Chair 69.217
Read Chinese Folding Chair 69.217 from its crossed legs to its carved flycatchers, and discover how a mobile frame became a dense surface of craft and good wishes.