Craftsman's designs on copying Yves seat
One of Britain's top furniture makers, based in Shropshire, has been commissioned to make a copy of a chair once owned by the prestigious designer Yves Saint Laurent to raise funds for charity.One of Britain's top furniture makers, based in Shropshire, has been commissioned to make a copy of a chair once owned by the prestigious designer Yves Saint Laurent to raise funds for charity. Peter Vidal, who runs Vidal & Company from The Old Malthouse, in Willow Street, Oswestry, has been commissioned to make a child's version of the chair for a national charity which will auction it off to raise funds. The original small brown chair, by the Irish designer Eileen Gray, sold at auction earlier this year for a staggering £19.4 million, despite expecting to reach £3 million. Its sale broke records as the most expensive piece of 20th century design to be sold at auction. It was sold at Christie's in Paris and remains in the capital city. The new chair however, while based on the original design, is blue in colour and the frame includes letters of the alphabet. Read more in the Shropshire Star
One of Britain's top furniture makers, based in Shropshire, has been commissioned to make a copy of a chair once owned by the prestigious designer Yves Saint Laurent to raise funds for charity.
Peter Vidal, who runs Vidal & Company from The Old Malthouse, in Willow Street, Oswestry, has been commissioned to make a child's version of the chair for a national charity which will auction it off to raise funds.
The original small brown chair, by the Irish designer Eileen Gray, sold at auction earlier this year for a staggering £19.4 million, despite expecting to reach £3 million.
Its sale broke records as the most expensive piece of 20th century design to be sold at auction.
It was sold at Christie's in Paris and remains in the capital city.
The new chair however, while based on the original design, is blue in colour and the frame includes letters of the alphabet.
Mr Vidal said: "We are doing a child's version of this based on the Jungle Book snake for a major national charity and we have got two weeks to do it in. We are going to be working weekends and nights.
"One of our clients commissioned us to do it. We have been working with them to develop it. It's going to be absolutely unbelievable."
The chair will be sold at auction for the charity but Mr Vidal is currently having to keep the details under wraps.
Mr Vidal is a renowned furniture maker and, with his small team of skilled craftworkers, he produces furniture for the rich and famous from his workshop at the restored Malthouse.
He has created a bed for a Bulgarian princess and other clients include heads of state and members of many royal families.
Closer to home, his Malthouse Gallery includes work by a host of local designers including his own Oswestry Table, which he created last year.
He said he was so proud of Oswestry and the skills the area had. He said he wanted to put the town on the map with his innovative table.
It now comes complete with the "Shropshire" or "Oswestry" chair which he also designed, but its name is under debate. Its fabric was specially printed by Parker & Arrol of Shrewsbury.
