Sofa
Maker & role
P E Kafka: Modern Exclusive Furniture (estab. 1939), Manufacturer; Mr Harry Seidler (b.1923, d.2006); AC OBE, Designer
Production date
1948-1950
Object detail
Production place
Collection
Measurements
0 - Whole, L: 215 x W: 78cm (L: 2150 x W: 780mm); 0 - Whole, L: 215cm (L: 2150mm); 0 - Whole, W: 78cm (W: 780mm)
Credit line
Gift, through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, by Harry Seidler AC OBE, 1987
Rose Seidler House Collection, Museums of History New South Wales
Rose Seidler House Collection, Museums of History New South Wales
Caption
Sofa, design by Harry Seidler, manufacture by P E Kafka: Modern Exclusive Furniture, Sydney, 1948-1950
Description
Architect Harry Seidler wrote that 'there is no difference between designing the interior and the exterior' and as such designed much of the furniture at Rose Seidler House. He commissioned fellow Viennese emigre, Paul Kafka, to make this sofa as well as several other pieces of moveable and built-in furniture. Most of these pieces are black in colour with chrome supports and handles and some include natural timber detailing. The unified style and colouring of the furniture contributes to a consistent design look throughout the house. This sofa, as well as the curtain in the playroom, and a pair of 'grasshopper' chairs designed by the Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen were originally covered with the same dark brown fabric.
Paul Kafka (1907-1972) was the son of a Viennese furniture maker, who worked in his father's factory but also studied furniture design. He emigrated to Australia with his wife in 1939 and soon opened his own furniture factory, first in Elizabeth Street Sydney and later in Botany Road Waterloo. Many of his clients were also European immigrants who commissioned custom-made furniture and fit-outs.
In 2020, this sofa was conserved with some necessary repairs and reupholstering. During the life of the sofa the upholstery had been changed several times, though the original dark brown upholstery, according to an article in Australian Home Beautiful magazine in September 1952, was a fabric with a 'heavy boucle coating which has a velvety suede-like appearance'. None of this material remained at Rose Seidler House, but fortunately, the nearby Marcus Seidler House (also designed and fitted out by Harry Seidler) still had an intact original heavy divider curtain with the same boucle fabric. New fabric was acquired and dyed to replicate the original upholstery. Other repairs and removal of previous upholstery layers also gave the sofa a sleeker look, much closer in style to the original. The full story of this conservation project can be found on the MHNSW website.
Paul Kafka (1907-1972) was the son of a Viennese furniture maker, who worked in his father's factory but also studied furniture design. He emigrated to Australia with his wife in 1939 and soon opened his own furniture factory, first in Elizabeth Street Sydney and later in Botany Road Waterloo. Many of his clients were also European immigrants who commissioned custom-made furniture and fit-outs.
In 2020, this sofa was conserved with some necessary repairs and reupholstering. During the life of the sofa the upholstery had been changed several times, though the original dark brown upholstery, according to an article in Australian Home Beautiful magazine in September 1952, was a fabric with a 'heavy boucle coating which has a velvety suede-like appearance'. None of this material remained at Rose Seidler House, but fortunately, the nearby Marcus Seidler House (also designed and fitted out by Harry Seidler) still had an intact original heavy divider curtain with the same boucle fabric. New fabric was acquired and dyed to replicate the original upholstery. Other repairs and removal of previous upholstery layers also gave the sofa a sleeker look, much closer in style to the original. The full story of this conservation project can be found on the MHNSW website.
Accession number
RSH88/4
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