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A very fine branded Renaissance Hunzinger walnut chair manufactured by George Hunzinger, New York, New York circa 1875. Original finish and original webbing.
George Hunzinger (1835-1898) was one of only a few furniture makers in the Victorian era whose designs were not derived from historical styles or fashion, but rather from an emerging vision of the modern era, with forms reflecting functional, mechanical influences which would characterize American design in the century to come.
The work of this idiosyncratic designer can now be seen in The Furniture of George Hunzinger by Barry R. Harwood, recently published by the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the catalogue its 1997 exhibit of the same name.
George Hunzinger was born in Germany in 1835 to a family which had been cabinetmakers since the 17th century. He emigrated to New York at the age of 20, already trained as a furniture maker; one of many German cabinetmakers, including the Herter Brothers, who came to the United States to flee the political and economic turmoil in Germany after 1848.
Hunzinger came to a country preoccupied with the latest technology and inventions, where new machines and labor saving devices were patented daily. He was a prolific inventor himself, and became a leader in the "patent furniture" industry. From 1860 to his death in 1898, he was awarded 21 patents for furniture inventions, including extension tables, swivel top and nesting tables, reclining and folding chairs, convertible beds, platform rockers and an innovative woven seat made of fabric covered braided steel wire.
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