Summary biography of Peter Makeig drawn from interviews with Mr Makeig and his son, Jason Makeig with Catriona Quinn in 2017. Additional references below.
In the mid 1940s Makeig was a student in the Faculty of Architecture at Sydney University but left at the end of 1948 before completing his degree. Not long after, in early 1949, Makeig met Harry Seidler, when the architect offered him a part-time job as a draughtsman in his design practice in his Point Piper studio. Makeig’s first project was preparing detailed plan drawings for the Fink house at Newport NSW.
At this time, the Rose Seidler house at Wahroonga was under construction and Seidler had arranged for the despatch of certain items of furniture required from Knoll, New York, including a Hardoy sling chair, which was eventually used in the playroom of the completed house. Seeing the potential in the relatively easily replicated chair, which itself was based on a much earlier Italian 'campaign’ design, Makeig suggested to Seidler that he could set up a workshop to produce them locally. Seidler lent his own Hardoy chair to Makeig, who proceeded to make several copies: these became known in Australia as the 'Butterfly’ or 'Hammock’ chair. Seidler approved the items, telling Makeig he would recommend his clients buy Butterfly chairs – the originals being virtually impossible to obtain – from Makeig’s Sydney factory, Descon Laminates Pty Ltd.
Two further Butterfly chairs at Rose Seidler House were identified by Harry Seidler in a 1987 interview as the work of Peter Makeig. Partly thanks to the press coverage of Seidler’s work in the 1950s, Makeig’s version of the 'Butterfly’ chair, cheap and portable, became an instantly recognisable hallmark of modernist Australian houses and their outdoor living spaces.
Consequently, in late 1949 Makeig set up Descon Laminates in response to the demand for modern furniture for the many new houses being designed by Seidler and others in the post war housing boom. Marion Best was one retail outlet amongst many where home decorators could buy Descon’s versions of Eames chairs and tables, though the company never held a license from Knoll. Although Seidler’s involvement in Descon was very limited, the two remained friends and Seidler’s name appeared on company letterhead in the 1950s as 'Consulting Architect’.
References
Peter Watts/Linda Rector Interview with Harry Seidler, Rose Seidler House, Historic Houses Trust, 1987 (CSRCL) in which HS attributes the replica chairs to Makeig.
Simon Reeves, 'Meadmore Originals’ RMIT Design Archives Journal Vol 5 No 2 2015 contains an excellent run-down on the spread of the Butterfly chair from Seidler through Makeig and Borland to Melbourne.
- Writers:
-
Michael Bogle
- Date written:
- 2017
- Last updated:
- 2017
