Are you weary of the sight of a Barcelona chair? Does a friend’s Le Corbusier chaise make you want to chuck? And does the prospect of having to park your derrière on an Eames chair make you angry? Sad but true: whatever these design classics once signified, they’re now design clichés, as devalued as a Mozart piano concerto used to sell perfume. So where Mies van der Rohe’s chair might once have brought to mind the Barcelona Pavilion of 1929, now that you see it in the foyer of every “hip” City office, it begins to lose its appeal. As for the Le Corbusier, well it might be lovely to look at, but heaven knows it’s about as comfy as a bed of nails. And the work of Eames, like so much mid-century American modernism, looks like something you’d find in the home of someone who has read too many design magazines – as demonstrated by that perfectly aligned stack of Wallpaper* back issues displayed on their Eames LTR table.

The good news, however, for fans of modernism who seek fresh, relatively untrodden paths, comes in the form of a vista filled with virtually unknown yet absolutely outstanding design – produced in Czechoslovakia in that unfortunate country’s brief glory days between the wars. Back then Czechoslovakia was a new country, more prosperous than Switzerland: home to some of Europe’s leading, most innovative brands (Rückl glass, Tatra and Skoda cars) and to a confident, sophisticated middle class, eager to furnish their homes with an elegance and an optimistic modernity that reflected their faith in the future.

Hitler and Chamberlain, Munich and Yalta… we all know how that optimism ended. But the great designs remain, and when the Wall came down, it’s no surprise that the first important collectors of them were newly prosperous Czechs, for whom possession of a settee by Halabala or a drinks service by Smrckova meant reclaiming their cultural heritage, as well as simply having nice things about the house. But increasingly the interest is becoming international, explains Karen Feldman, who wrote a definitive consumer’s guide to Prague and runs a VIP shopping service (www.artelstyle.com) for collectors staying at the swanky new Mandarin Oriental hotel. Whether at Modernista (www.modernista.cz) in Prague or Prague Kolectiv (www.praguekolektiv.com), the Brooklyn-based design emporium spreading the message to design-savvy New Yorkers, original pieces do not come cheap – although as Feldman explains, “Czech furniture is a better buy than French Art Deco and German functionalism.” But thrillingly, for those of us who can’t afford museum-standard originals, both stock high-quality collectibles that won’t bore your friends silly.

For more about design in Prague, go to timesonline.co.uk/travel

coolhunter@thetimes.co.uk

Tina Gaudoin is away

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