Gerald Summers & Marjorie Butcher: Makers of Simple Furniture, 1931–1940

“It was simple furniture ... and we were makers of it.” In 1931, the English designer Gerald Summers and his partner Marjorie Butcher opened their business, Makers of Simple Furniture, in London. Until 1940, the company produced hundreds of ingenious plywood designs that helped define the idea of the modern interior in Great Britain. Based on Marjorie Butcher’s vivid recollections and a wealth of unpublished material—including photographs, personal correspondence, designs and workshop documents—the book traces the groundbreaking achievements of the furniture company best known for the iconic Bent Plywood Armchair. The publication was supported in part by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.GERALD SUMMERS (1899–1967) is one of the foremost furniture designers of the twentieth century. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, he worked as an engineer before starting his design career. In 1931, he and his partner, MARJORIE BUTCHER (1909–1996), opened Makers of Simple Furnitu