Design Moment: Contour chair, 1953

Scandinavian and US names tend to dominate any discussion of mid-century modern design – but that’s in the Northern Hemisphere. In the south, Grant Featherston (1922-95) dominates.

In his home country of Australia, his Contour chair is one of his best-known and and much-loved designs.

He launched his debut collection in 1947 with a series of ultra-light upholstered chairs made with laminated wood and shaped to follow the contours of the body.

Working with Australian Modernist architect Robin Boyd he produced streamlined furniture that got immediate attention but proved a little too challenging for the then conservative Australian home furnishings market.

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Featherston also worked with his wife, Mary, a prominent interior designer. In 1953 he designed his famous Contour chair which he said was inspired by a tram ticket he had idly folded into a shape during a long wait.

Tall with a wide back it is fully upholstered with a button detail to the seat and back and sits on tapered legs that seem too delicate to hold such a curvy substantial piece.

He adapted his basic design in many ways during the 1950s including his very popular Television chair, a lower, smaller version of the Contour, designed to capitalise on the new TV watching trend.