Boy, do these chairs have an interesting story. And they are fabulous to gaze upon not to mention set in. They are attributed to Conant Ball’s ModernMates collection even though they are not marked. Conant Ball was notoriously sloppy in marking their pieces and it has even been found that they mismarked some pieces. Leading somewhat to my next statement. These chairs and the ModernMates collection were designed by Leslie Diamond and NOT Russel Wright as is so commonly quoted. It doesn’t matter who designed these beautiful chairs. They are a feast for the eyes with their fluid wave continual seat and back supported by wonderful turned and tapered legs. Simple and stunning.
The Conant Ball Furniture Company was founded in Gardner, Massachusetts in the late 1800s. It was well known for producing wooden Colonial Revival furniture reproduction chairs but soon expanded into bedroom furnishings and dining room sets. In the 1930s Russel Wright designed a line of furniture for them called American Modern named for his line of dishware. It has been long thought that many of the other modern lines by Conant Ball were also designed by him but recently it has come to light that many of these subsequent designs are by Leslie Diamond. Conant Ball closed its door in 1980. Many of its designs whether by Russel Wright, Leslie Diamond, or an unknown designer have come to be highly desirable which speaks volumes about their high quality and great lines.
