The chaise longue now known as the LC4 was designed in 1928 by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand. It only acquired that name much later, at Cassina, which has produced it since 1965. In between, it went through several makers and several names. That history has practical consequences for anyone thinking of buying an older example.
One studio, three authors
In 1927 Charlotte Perriand joined Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret's studio on the rue de Sèvres in Paris, to take charge of interior equipment. The three worked together on a series of tubular steel seats: an armchair with a tilting back, a "grand confort" armchair, and this chaise longue. They described it as a "machine à repos", a machine for resting, which could serve as an armchair, a lounger or a rocking seat.
A photograph from the period, often reproduced, shows Charlotte Perriand lying on the chaise longue with her head turned towards the wall. It sums up the project rather well: a seat that follows the body at rest, rather than a piece of furniture to be looked at.
A cradle resting on a base
The chaise longue is made of two separate parts. A chromed tubular steel cradle, whose arched profile follows the reclining body, carries the mattress and a cylindrical neck cushion. The cradle rests freely on a separate base. Sliding it along changes the angle, from almost upright to fully reclined, and it stays put under its own weight, with no mechanism and no adjusting knob. Hence one of its original names, the chaise longue "à réglage continu", with continuous adjustment.
The principle is simple, but it depends on precise geometry: the cradle must stay stable in every position without sliding of its own accord.
First showing and first editions
The chaise longue was shown to the public at the 1929 Salon d'Automne in Paris, in an ensemble devoted to the "interior equipment of a dwelling". Thonet then produced it in the early 1930s under the reference B306, in small numbers. Other makers, in Switzerland in particular, later made short runs of it.
Heidi Weber, then Cassina
At the end of the 1950s, the Zurich gallery owner Heidi Weber obtained Le Corbusier's agreement to reissue the chaise longue. As demand grew, she subcontracted its manufacture to the Italian firm Cassina from 1964. In 1965 Cassina acquired the exclusive rights to produce and sell it. Le Corbusier died in August of that year.
Cassina gave the chaise longue the name LC4, within its collection devoted to the furniture of Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand. It has produced it without interruption since, offering over the years several covers, leather, pony hide or fabric, and several frame finishes.
What this history means for a buyer
Thonet examples from the 1930s are rare and belong to specialist auctions; you almost never come across one in the ordinary trade. Heidi Weber's editions are also few. The older LC4s you find at dealers are therefore, for the most part, Cassina pieces.
Within Cassina's production, age matters. The manufacturer's markings, the numbering and where they appear have changed over the decades, which makes it possible to place a piece in time, provided you compare it with documented examples. An early edition and a recent one are not valued the same. We have gone through these checks in our article on Cassina LC pieces and their copies.
What to look at on an example
- The frame. The chrome on the cradle should be even, with no deep pitting and no crude re-chroming, and the tube ends should be clean.
- The adjustment. Slide the cradle along its full travel. It should move without jerks and stay where you leave it, in every position.
- The cover. Pony hide loses its hair where it rubs, and leather cracks if it has dried out. A remade mattress is not a fault, provided it is disclosed.
- The marking. Find the manufacturer's mark and the number, and check that they match the period claimed.
- The proportions. The LC4 has been copied a great deal. Compare the tube diameter, the curve of the cradle and the finish of the base with a documented example.
At LAPIERRE MARKET
The LC4 is one of the Cassina models we look to buy, along with the LC2 and LC3. The Charlotte Perriand profile looks at the work of one of its three authors, and the sell a piece page explains how to have a piece valued.
By
LAPIERRE MARKET
