True gems of our collection

These two pieces of furniture are true stars of our collection of items from the ŁAD Cooperative. One is a corset armchair (made of oak wood) designed by Olgierd Szlekys and produced in the 1950s. The other is a table (made of wych elm) with a burnt stamp “ŁAD WARSZAWA” on the underside of the top. It was probably designed by Olgierd Szlekys or Władyslaw Wincze (or perhaps by both) just after World War II and produced most likely at the Cooperative’s carpentry shop on Jozef Hoene-Wroński Street in Warsaw. In the last photo, the corset is being put on by designer Olgierd Szlekys himself.

Corset armchairs were intended for private clients, among others, but were also furnishings for cafeterias. In recent years, several of these armchairs have appeared on the antiquarian market and among collectors. As for the table – it is the only existing copy known to us. Unfortunately, there is no information about it in the source materials we have.