One-off pieces spurred a 1963 production line for Raymor, sold at department stores, which makes up most of what people see on the market today, like the lady rocker in Lena Dunham’s Connecticut home. But Risley made People chairs until the end of his life, getting more fanciful with age. Later ones were often commissions, incorporating such novelties as a handbag (for magazines) or the client’s dog. In the ’90s some rabbit seats were called in for a photo shoot at Prada.
These days, both models have been cropping up on the secondary market and in the pages of magazines, often incorrectly called “nun chairs,” or repainted in bright colors. (Risley exclusively used black.) Keep an eye out for “in the style of” copycats, but even authentic ones might not bear a signature—Risley only began adding his initials in the ’90s. Not surprisingly, designers are smitten with these people. Luis Laplace set one sea gazing in a Mexico bedroom where, he says, “it brings a smile.” Meanwhile, Adam Charlap Hyman, who sprinkled some around an LA home, shown in Sight Unseen’s new book, Living With Objects (Clarkson Potter), praises their “slippery relationship to modernism—they both fit within that history and sit outside of it.” His favorite detail, though, is something more subtle: “the shadows they cast on gravel or grass.”