Are you an expert on 1950s Scandinavian lounge chairs?

April 7, 2014 4:08 PM

A friend bought this chair from an auction house in Norway. The chair has no identifying marks, and the auction house wasn't able to identify it further than "probably Scandinavian 1950s or early 1960s". She has not been able to find any similar chairs online, but it is quite well built, and doesn't appear to be a one-off. She would like to identify it before redoing the upholstery, so any tips would be welcome.
posted by Baron Humbert von Gikkingen to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

Are there any makers' marks at all...? You'll want to post a pic of the underside, I think. It's quite a nice piece.
posted by kmennie at 4:28 PM on April 7, 2014

Second a pic from underneath. In my experience there's a lot of smaller manufacturers of good chairs in the 50-60's in the Scandinavian countries. But if the auction house don't know, then it's probably not a wellknown maker.

If you want dig deeper you might find more help from the norwegian crafts association. Sometimes they keep tabs of old manufacturers. Website.
posted by Rabarberofficer at 4:37 PM on April 7, 2014

It might help when you're searching to use the phrase "Danish Modern" as a search term-- it was how interior decorators/designers talked about that style, and it crops up as a style marker in, for example, literature from the time period.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 6:57 PM on April 7, 2014

It looks very similar to lilla Adam fåtölj by Kerstin Hörlin Holmqvist. Her paradiset sofa has the same curved back.
posted by meijusa at 12:30 AM on April 8, 2014

Norway here for a lead. I would recommend you send an email directly to Empire Antique and Used in Oslo and ask if they can identify. Very local and very knowledgeable guy. I have seen similar styles many times before but have never thought what might be the history. Email address: [e-mail] website: http://www.empireantikbrukt.no/
posted by Funmonkey1 at 12:32 AM on April 8, 2014

I'm not an expert, but I know one. Send an e-mail to my friend Fia Fox at Stilbrott. Fia is an upholsterer here in Stockholm - a real artist - and an expert on antique Scandinavian furniture. (Her website is in Swedish, but her English is impeccable so don't be shy.)
posted by three blind mice at 12:40 AM on April 8, 2014

I don't think its Danish, but here is a site with Danish chairs
posted by mumimor at 1:05 AM on April 8, 2014

Thanks for the useful comments!

I've now uploaded an image of the underside here. There are no makers mark or anything similar.

(The most unique about this chair is by the way the armrests, which are on the inside of the curved back.)
posted by Baron Humbert von Gikkingen at 5:55 AM on April 8, 2014

It looks an awful lot like a Jørgen & Nanna Ditzel Lounge Chair.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:02 AM on April 8, 2014