Battle looms over chair design
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Now, nearly 60 years after his death, the descendants of the architect and interior specialist Sir Edwin Lutyens are locked in a transatlantic copyright dispute over the ownership of one of his most celebrated furniture designs.
The cause of their anger is an American-produced lounge seat they argue bears a resemblance to The Napoleon, an upholstered hardwood armchair first produced by Lutyens in 1919. The design was inspired by a chaise longue depicted in a sketch of Napoleon Bonaparte in his study.
A Napoleon chair is included in a furniture display at the V&A, and its appearance is attributed to Lutyens in reference books. Since 1986, the chair has been manufactured by a family business run by Lutyens' granddaughter, Candia, from her home in London.
But now Ms Lutyens is engaged in a war of words with the American manufacturer Century Furniture and Neiman Marcus, an upmarket US shop chain, whom she has accused of "appropriating" her grandfather's design. She is demanding the companies stop marketing it or face legal action.
But Peter Gowdey, the solicitor representing Century Furniture, said: "There are definitely artistic similarities between the two chairs, but they are not identical."
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