Featherston Contour Chairs in NZ

We love the Contour Range of chairs by Australian Grant Featherston. How could anyone resist the silky smooth curves, perfect proportions and organic design that defines them?

The design for the contour chair came to Featherston while sitting on a tram, casually bending his tram ticket around with his hand. He noticed the shape which was formed by the two ends arched towards each other. That same curve from the ticket became the basis for the plywood shells of the Contour Range.

The allure of this bold new design quickly spread to New Zealand. Auckland's Central Upholstery Co snapped up licences to produce the Contour Range in New Zealand, offering the chairs through selected high end furniture retailers.

A big seller of the range was Maples Furniture on K'Road. Check out the window display photo for a line-up of Contour chairs to die for! The Hermitage in Mt Cook had also been recently completed and the interior rooms were all furnished with Featherston chairs.

Premier contemporary furniture retailer Jon Jansen also came under the spell of the contour range. Head designer Bob Roukema, was so taken with the R152 contour armchair that he created his own version. Roukema redesigned the plywood seat and incorporated the famous 'X' base. His creation is a distinctly Kiwi version of the classic masterpiece and highly desirable.

If you have any stories about these wonderful chairs we'd love to hear from you - drop us an email anytime.

Reference, Featherston, Grant Featherston, Contour Chairs, Jon Jansen, History, Australian Design, Design History, R160