Collection
Scandinavian Vintage Chairs
Scandinavian vintage chairs are the essence of Danish cabinetmaking – solid wood, precise joints and a form that still pleases the eye years later. The collection includes chairs from the 1950s–70s, mainly Danish, in teak and oak. Chairs from other countries are in our vintage chairs category.
Set of 4 teak chairs designed by N. Koefoed, manufactured by Koefoed Hornslet, Denmark, 1960s
The chair as the designer’s test
In Danish design the chair was the hardest brief: it had to be light, strong, comfortable and suitable for serial production. The school of Kaare Klint, who headed the furniture department at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1924, taught designers to start from the proportions of the human body and from proven historical types. Mogensen, Wegner and many of the designers whose chairs are in this collection came out of that school.
The best-known result of this approach is Hans J. Wegner’s Wishbone Chair of 1949 – with a steam-bent backrest and a seat woven from paper cord. The same exceptionally durable material appears in many Danish chairs of the 1950s and 60s.
Danish chairs
Four out of five chairs in this collection are Danish. Most often these are dining chairs designed by Niels Otto Møller from the family factory J.L. Møllers, model 31 by Kai Kristiansen for Schou Andersen Møbelfabrik, and designs by Hans J. Wegner and Erik Buch. Chairs were also made by Korup Stolefabrik, Farstrup and Getama. Typical features are sculpted backrests in solid teak or oak and seats in fabric, leather or paper cord.
Sets and dimensions
Single chairs also come from Sweden, Norway and Finland. Many chairs are sold in sets of four or six, as they were originally bought for a table – their condition is described on the product page. Seat height and chair width are in the Dimensions tab; this matters when matching chairs to a table with an apron.
