Settlers Chair

by Jon Goulder

From The Designer

An uneven pre-water creation followed by a vacuum-pressed leather covering on a Tasmanian Blackwood framework, with hand needlecraft. This project showcases the consequence of innovative manipulation and formation of materials. The process of manufacture has been uniquely developed in the designer’s studio making this only one of its kind in the world.

When designing this piece, thoughts surrounding the cleverness of the Australian settlers, specifically their resourcefulness of available materials were stimulated. Leather was an imperative material in early Australian furniture, serving as a creative opportunity for the designer’s research. The aim was to create a pure structure that was not reliant on other materials such as an internal fiberglass shell. This objective inspired the development of a new process. This process could form large portions of leather that enfolded structural wooden components prior to vacuum pressing in layers to attain large components needed for this chair.

Research was conducted into the earliest Australian furniture, specifically the Hamilton Inn Sofa (Hobart). The unequal structure is both a reference to a chaise lounge and the modern age we live in.

This project signifies a shifting point for the designer’s practice – away from European mid-century aesthetic interests to narrative-based foundations of stimulus including those that draw from the designer’s memory of family furniture creating business and from Australian history.

Recently collected by the National Gallery of Victoria.