This piece was bought by the current owners in the early 1990s.

'How High the Moon', borrowed from a jazz piece by Duke Ellington, is a poetic abstraction of a traditional armchair. Dematerialized by the planes of see-through mesh of which it is constructed, this piece creates a sensation of floating in keeping with Kuramata's vision of a surreal and minimalist ideal. The backrest, armrests and seat reduced to simple cubic forms and executed in expanded metal, Kuramata's aesthetic combined Japanese simplicity and clarity with a preoccupation for non-traditional materials and forms.
Tokyo-based designer Shiro Kuramata was widely influential in Japan and Europe during the 1970s and 80s. Specializing in the design of furniture and interiors, Kuramata was particularly interested in creating pieces that blurred the boundary between function and art. Many of his designs are at once functional objects and sculpture, and it was this duality that influenced such designers as Philippe Starck, Ron Arad and Marc Newson. Since his death in 1991 a number of his designs have achieved iconic status. These include 'How High the Moon', 1986, his terrazzo tables for Memphis, 1983, and the clear acrylic 'Miss Blanche', 1988.