A very rare first edition MR10 chair with a unique provenance.
It comes from the estate of the architect Felix Tikotin, who acquired it directly from Mies van der Rohe in 1927; the year it was designed and presented for the first time at the historic Weissenhof Siedlung in Stuttgart.
The design is both a technical and aesthetical masterpiece of the 20th century. The wickerwork was developed by Lilly Reich. It has been restored in several places, which has given this chair a charming pattern by which it can be identified. Although from the very start the MR10 was intended for industrial production, this early version was still for a great deal made by hand by the Berliner Metallgewerbe Joseph Müller. The earliest edition was available in primary colors like this one.
Felix Tikotin (1893-1986) was an architect, art collector and an important dealer of Japanese art. Like Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, he was a member of the association 'Der Ring' in Berlin from 1926. In 1927 he acquired this chair directly from him. (Tikotin's mother was appalled by this purchase and thought the chairs were more appropriate for a dental practice). In 1927 Tikotin opened a gallery for Japanese art on Kurfürstendamm in Berlin. He became one of the most respected dealers in Japanese art and founderof the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art in Haifa,Israel. In 1955 he organised the first overseas exhibition of the origami by Akira Yoshizawa in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Literature: Alexander von Vegesack, Deutsche Stahlrohrmöbel, München
