Pierre Jeanneret Student / Dining Chairs, Model PJ-SI-25-A, Chandigarh, c.1958-59

Pierre Jeanneret designed this student / hostel chair as part of the Chandigarh furniture program. Catalogued as PJ-SI-25-A, the design dates to circa 1958-1959. The PJ-SI-25-A belongs to the utilitarian seating developed for Chandigarh’s educational and residential institutions. The design combines a compact teak frame with splayed side supports and a deliberately economical geometry suited to repeated institutional use. This Studio Balestra example measures 16.5"W x 19.5"D x 31.5"H x 17"SH. Vintage teak and cane. The object is catalogued from a private collection, Chandigarh, India. Its present condition and surface are intended to retain the visible evidence of age and use rather than erase it through over-restoration. Studio Balestra accompanies the piece with a Certificate of Authenticity and maintains a research file with the corresponding model literature and object documentation. Where contemporary upholstery, cane or webbing is present, it is identified as a current treatment rather than represented as an original period textile or weave.

Jeanneret’s furniture for Chandigarh was conceived at the scale of an entire new city, with repeatable forms suited to demanding daily use. In this chair, the silhouette comes from the relationship between seat, arms or back and the angled timber supports. The surface of the period frame records its working life, while any present-day upholstery or renewed weaving should be understood as a later intervention.

The PJ-SI-25-A designation belongs to this cane-seated student or hostel chair, not to the upholstered dining groups. Its 17-inch seat height and 16.5-by-19.5-inch footprint should be read with the individual photograph and the condition of the cane. The paint and condition of a chair available under this record should be documented on its individual frame. Confirm any surviving paint on that specific frame before naming a department.