Mexican Cocobolo Carved Hand Chair in the Style of Pedro Friedeberg, circa 1960

A small-scale studio-carved cocobolo hand chair from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, circa 1960, in the style of Pedro Friedeberg. Carved from solid tropical hardwood, the chair combines the form of an open hand with unusually detailed anatomical carving and references to traditional Mexican formal dress.
The palm forms the seat while the extended fingers create the back. The carver delineated the principal lines of the palm along with fingernails, knuckles, joints and folds. These details continue onto the reverse, where the fingernails and articulation of the fingers are individually carved.
The treatment of the wrist and base is particularly distinctive. The hand emerges from a broad two-button shirt or jacket cuff ornamented with an incised scrolling vine, leaf and flower pattern suggesting embroidery. Below the cuff, the sleeve narrows before expanding into a deeply fluted, ruffled base. This treatment appears to draw upon details of nineteenth-century Mexican formal dress, translating the gathered fabric and embroidered decoration into the structure of the chair.
The chair belongs to the Mexican tradition of sculptural hand furniture most closely associated with Pedro Friedeberg and his celebrated Hand Chair of the 1960s. This unsigned Guadalajara example is presented in the style of Friedeberg rather than attributed to him. Its smaller scale, anatomical detail and incorporation of historical costume distinguish it from Friedeberg's larger, more sculptural seating.
At 31.25 inches high with a 15-inch seat height, this is more accurately considered a sculptural perch or low seat than a full-scale lounge chair. The cocobolo displays warm amber, reddish-brown and deeper brown tones with considerable natural variation in the grain.
Dimensions: H. 31.25 in. × W. 14 in. × D. 16 in.; seat H. 15 in.
Condition
Very good vintage condition following professional conservation. An age-related separation in the solid wood extended upward from the fluted base and reappeared at the juncture of the thumb and palm. The separation has been professionally filled, stabilized and color-matched, reinforcing this area against further movement. Surface and finish issues elsewhere on the chair were addressed as appropriate while retaining the character of the older finish. The entire chair was subsequently polished and presents very well, with minor variations consistent with its age and hand-carved construction.