Set of Four George Nelson ''Pretzel'' Armchair Made by ICF, Italy, 1984-1986

A rare and beautiful set of four ''Pretzel'' armchairs made in laminated wood and manufactured in the 1984/1986 in Italy by ICF De Padova.

Originally designed for Herman Miller in 1952 named as model 5890, George Nelson later gave permission for ICF to make this chair for the Italian market, in 1984. Nelson died in 1986 and the already tiny production - due to the high retail price - was stopped after less than two years.

George Nelson speaking about his chair (Domus n.670, Marzo 1986):
''Why did we make the chair this way? Most of the chairs had plastic shells following Eames, or straight sticks. I wanted my chair to be strong and very light, something you could lift with two fingers... as with Gio Ponti's chair, which I admire very much. To achieve strength and lightness at the same time I decided to make the whole chair out of laminated wood, but then I discovered that when you make a chair out of laminated wood, you don't get straight sticks, but totally curved forms. So it came out a «Pretzel-chair».''

All the armchairs are in very good original condition retaining their original cushions (two green and two with a checkered pattern) and manufacturer's labels.

Literature: George Nelson: Architect, Writer, Designer, Teacher, von Vegesack and Eisenbrand, pg. 248 George Nelson: The Design of Modern Design, Abercrombie, pg. 203.