Model Fd 117

Together, Tove & Edvard Kindt-Larsen helped usher in the golden era of Scandinavian modern furniture design through their significant involvement with the Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibitions from the 1930s through the ’70s.

Married in 1937, Tove and Edvard Kindt-Larsen (1906–94; 1901–82) etched out names for themselves independently and as a pair. Tove was one of the first female designers to come to the fore during Denmark’s rise in furniture production. She studied under the legendary Kaare Klint at the Department of Furniture Design at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts years after she started working in the industry.

Edvard received great recognition for his large hotel project by the lakes in Copenhagen and his house in Klampenborg, which he designed in 1962. Edvard was awarded the Eckersberg Medal from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1949 for his work as an architect.

While both were skilled designers — the couple’s coffee tables, armchairs and other pieces for France & Søn, Seffle Möbelfabrik and more are widely collected today — Edvard and Tove’s greatest contribution is undoubtedly their involvement with the Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibitions. The shows they assembled were integral to putting Danish design on the map, with Edvard serving as head of the exhibitions from 1943 to ’66. During this period, mid-century Danish design truly took off in the United States — when Scandinavia’s simple, curvilinear wooden furniture, home goods and textiles suddenly seemed the perfect foil for glass-and-steel skyscrapers. 

Together, the pair organized events that ignited collaborations between big-name Danish designers such as Hans J. Wegner and Johannes Hansen, Finn Juhl and Niels Vodder, Ole Wanscher and A.J. Iversen, Jacob Kjær and Peder Moos, and more. 

The guild provided a platform for the designers to showcase their now-iconic works, including Wegner’s Round chair, the rustic and recognizable Hunting chair and Spanish chair — both created by Børge Mogensen — and Finn Juhl’s Chieftain chair, 46 chair and 46 sofa. 

Find antique Tove & Edvard Kindt-Larsen side tables, lounge chairs, case pieces and other furniture on 1stDibs. 

While this specific seating is known to all for its comfort and familiar form, the history of how your favorite antique or vintage lounge chair came to be is slightly more ambiguous.

Although there are rare armchairs dating back as far as the 17th century, some believe that the origins of the first official “lounge chair” are tied to Hungarian modernist designer-architect Marcel Breuer. Sure, Breuer wasn’t exactly reinventing the wheel when he introduced the Wassily lounge chair in 1925, but his seat was indeed revolutionary for its integration of bent tubular steel.

Officially, a lounge chair is simply defined as a “comfortable armchair,” which allows for the shape and material of the furnishings to be extremely diverse. Whether or not chaise longues make the cut for this category is a matter of frequent debate.

The Eames lounge chair, on the other hand, has come to define somewhat of a universal perception of what a lounge chair can be. Introduced in 1956, the Eames lounger (and its partner in cozy, the ottoman) quickly became staples in television shows, prestigious office buildings and sumptuous living rooms. Venerable American mid-century modern designers Charles and Ray Eames intended for it to be the peak of luxury, which they knew meant taking furniture to the next level of style and comfort. Their chair inspired many modern interpretations of the lounge — as well as numerous copies.

On 1stDibs, find a broad range of unique lounge chairs that includes everything from antique Victorian-era seating to vintage mid-century modern lounge chairs by craftspersons such as Hans Wegner to contemporary choices from today’s innovative designers.