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Montis for sale on 1stDibs
Modern Dutch design owes a great deal to Gerard van den Berg. While the Netherlands has a rich furniture-making tradition, it took a maverick like Van den Berg to bring it into a new era.
Van den Berg was born in 1947 to a family of designers. His father owned a furniture company in Hellevoetsluis where Van den Berg worked as an apprentice and then designer until he and his brother, Ton, founded their own workshop, in 1974. That company, named Montis, produced mostly upholstered seating for homes and businesses.
At Montis, Van den Berg challenged traditional Dutch furniture forms. Rather than starting with the piece's frame, which he felt was restrictive, he focused on the silhouette. This inspired Van den Berg to create slim and elegant furniture, often featuring angular metal legs and leather upholstery. In 1983, he pioneered the "jacket technique," consisting of a zipped leather cover around a metal frame. Several iconic Montis seats use this technique, including the Chaplin chair, the Butterfly lounge chair and the Rocky sofa.
In 1989, Van den Berg launched his own design studio and began designing for companies like Wittmann, Molteni and Perobell. He left Montis in 1990 to cofound a new company, called Label, with Ton the following year. Today, Van den Berg's son Jasper and Ton's daughter, Marieke, manage Label. Van den Berg's other son, Ivo, is also a designer at the company.
Van den Berg's irreplaceable contributions to furniture design have garnered multiple awards over the years. Some of the most notable include the Kho Liang Prize, the Mobilia Innovation Award and the Prize for Interior Architecture.
Find vintage Montis seating on 1stDibs.
Finding the Right Seating for You
With entire areas of our homes reserved for “sitting rooms,” the value of quality antique and vintage seating cannot be overstated.
Fortunately, the design of side chairs, armchairs and other lounge furniture — since what were, quite literally, the early perches of our ancestors — has evolved considerably.
Among the earliest standard seating furniture were stools. Egyptian stools, for example, designed for one person with no seat back, were x-shaped and typically folded to be tucked away. These rudimentary chairs informed the design of Greek and Roman stools, all of which were a long way from Sori Yanagi's Butterfly stool or Alvar Aalto's Stool 60. In the 18th century and earlier, seats with backs and armrests were largely reserved for high nobility.
The seating of today is more inclusive but the style and placement of chairs can still make a statement. Antique desk chairs and armchairs designed in the style of Louis XV, which eventually included painted furniture and were often made of rare woods, feature prominently curved legs as well as Chinese themes and varied ornaments. Much like the thrones of fairy tales and the regency, elegant lounges crafted in the Louis XV style convey wealth and prestige. In the kitchen, the dining chair placed at the head of the table is typically reserved for the head of the household or a revered guest.
Of course, with luxurious vintage or antique furnishings, every chair can seem like the best seat in the house. Whether your preference is stretching out on a plush sofa, such as the Serpentine, designed by Vladimir Kagan, or cozying up in a vintage wingback chair, there is likely to be a comfy classic or contemporary gem for you on 1stDibs.
With respect to the latest obsessions in design, cane seating has been cropping up everywhere, from sleek armchairs to lounge chairs, while bouclé fabric, a staple of modern furniture design, can be seen in mid-century modern, Scandinavian modern and Hollywood Regency furniture styles.
Admirers of the sophisticated craftsmanship and dark woods frequently associated with mid-century modern seating can find timeless furnishings in our expansive collection of lounge chairs, dining chairs and other items — whether they’re vintage editions or alluring official reproductions of iconic designs from the likes of Hans Wegner or from Charles and Ray Eames. Shop our inventory of Egg chairs, designed in 1958 by Arne Jacobsen, the Florence Knoll lounge chair and more.
No matter your style, the collection of unique chairs, sofas and other seating on 1stDibs is surely worthy of a standing ovation.