"Lounge chair model 'Hands' by Peter Opsvik for Cylindra AS"

Lounge chair model "Hands". Made by Cylindra AS. Designed in Norway in 1986, produced in 1994. Solid pine wood and green cotton upholstery. Wear consistent with age and use, small scratches on the wood. Designer's signature "Peter Opsvik" on the side. Provenance: Private collection, Oslo. Sculpture or furniture. Peter Opsvik explains: "At home, in the hallway, we have a chair called 'Embrace', which I use for about a minute each day when putting on or taking off my shoes. Naturally, it is more important that this chair welcomes me than having ergonomic qualities. Could this also be a form of functionalism. The same would apply if I placed the 'Hands' chair in the same spot. It would raise its hands in the air and perhaps pull its hair when I come home." In 1984, a small barrel-making company asked Peter Opsvik to explore the possibility of developing furniture using their expertise. Opsvik chose to abandon the barrel shape and proposed gluing staves into straight cylinders of different dimensions, allowing for greater freedom of form. Two years of work culminated in the exhibition "Tre dimensjoner - skulptur eller møbel" at the Museum of Applied Arts in Oslo, summer 1986.