Was eBay Trafficking in Pilfered Wright Chair?

Frank Lloyd Wright creation may have been stolen from S.C. Johnson museum

Police in Racine, WI are investigating whether a chair listed on eBay as a Frank Lloyd Wright creation was stolen from the Wright-designed headquarters of S.C. Johnson & Son Inc.

A spokeswoman for the company, Kelly Semrau, told the Green Bay Press-Gazette that the chair was spotted on the auction site Tuesday and S.C. Johnson officials called police.

She said a photo showed a very specific type of chair made only for S.C. Johnson in 1936. "The chairs that look like that were only made for our building," Semrau said.

Police tracked the chair to the (get this) Wright Auction House in Chicago, which planned to sell it online, police Sgt. Bernie Kupper said. The owner, who cooperated with officers, told investigators a Milwaukee antiques dealer had brought the chair to him.

The chair was still at the Chicago auction house today, Kupper said. No arrests had been made.

The chair is metal with wheels, and has red circular pads on the seat and back. The only chairs of that style were designed by the renowned architect for the S.C. Johnson Administration Building in 1936.

The chair was offered for $5,000 under a listing for a "Frank Lloyd Wright chair from Johnson Wax." The highest of its four bids reached $10,000 before eBay security, alerted by Racine police, shut down the auction.

Kupper said it was unlikely the chair is a replica, and added that none of the Wright furniture was ever given away.

S.C. Johnson was reviewing its inventory to see whether a chair is missing.

(AP Photo/Journal Times, Mark Hertzberg)