Stendig Co
Vintage 1950s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Chrome
Vintage 1960s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Club Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Swiss Mid-Century Modern Living Room Sets
Chrome
Vintage 1950s Finnish Center Tables
Steel
Vintage 1970s Czech Armchairs
Textile, Cane, Bentwood
Vintage 1970s German Lounge Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel, Chrome
Late 20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Club Chairs
Fabric, Wood
20th Century Swiss Mid-Century Modern Loveseats
Steel
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Swivel Chairs
Aluminum
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Swivel Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1980s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Marble, Stainless Steel
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Stools
Chrome
Vintage 1960s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Rattan
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1960s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery, Fiberglass
Mid-20th Century Rocking Chairs
Cane, Bentwood
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Leather
Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Lacquer
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather
Vintage 1960s Czech Bauhaus Dining Room Chairs
Cane, Bentwood
Vintage 1960s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Fabric, Bouclé, Wood, Rosewood
Vintage 1950s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1960s Italian Bauhaus Lounge Chairs
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Hardwood, Lacquer
Antique 1660s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Fabric, Wood
Vintage 1960s Swiss Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood, Lacquer, Cane
Vintage 1980s Italian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Upholstery, Beech, Lacquer
20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern End Tables
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Finnish Bauhaus Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Chrome
Vintage 1950s Scandinavian Mid-Century Modern Stools
Steel
Vintage 1960s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1960s Polish Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Cane, Wood, Bentwood
Vintage 1960s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Chrome, Steel
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Unknown Bauhaus Side Chairs
Chrome, Steel
Vintage 1970s Bauhaus Dining Room Chairs
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1960s Unknown Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Chrome
Vintage 1960s Unknown Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Wood
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome, Steel
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1960s European Modern Chairs
Bentwood, Cane
Vintage 1970s Norwegian Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1960s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1970s European Modern Chairs
Beech
Mid-20th Century Swiss Mid-Century Modern Loveseats
Metal
Mid-20th Century Finnish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
Metal, Chrome
Vintage 1970s American Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Mid-20th Century German Bauhaus Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Leather, Wood
Mid-20th Century Finnish Scandinavian Modern Chairs
Chrome
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Stendig Co For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Stendig Co?
Stendig Co. for sale on 1stDibs
Stendig Co. played a pivotal role in introducing modern European furniture to the American market, thanks to the business acumen of founder Charles Stendig.
Around 1950, the Brooklyn, New York–born Stendig (1924–2024) worked for Raymor, a purveyor of modern china and accessories that is best known for distributing designer Russel Wright’s American Modern line of ceramics. While at Raymor, Stendig focused on the company’s less popular pieces that were made in Italy and Scandinavia, recognizing their potential for the American market. In 1955, he left the company and decided to establish Stendig Co.
That year, a chance encounter with a Finnish trade representative led him to furniture company Asko — one of the largest companies operating in Scandinavia. Asko invited him and Joseph Carreiro, a professor at the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts), to help refine their designs.
At Asko’s production facility in Finland, Stendig met several renowned Finnish designers such as Ilmari Tapiovaara, Tapio Wirkkala and Eero Aarnio, the iconic Ball chair creator. Stendig’s trip there was a success, and Stendig Co. began importing Finnish furniture to the United States.
In 1956, the first Stendig Co. showroom opened in Manhattan. A year later, during a trip to Zurich, Stendig came across a Bauhaus–inspired furniture store featuring pieces by Swiss designers Kurt Thut, Hans Eichenberger and Robert Haussmann, the store’s co-owner. Following a meeting with Haussmann, Stendig became the retailer’s exclusive U.S. distributor.
Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, Stendig Co. imported and sold furniture from influential European designers, including Swiss designer Bruno Rey, Italian architect and industrial designer Vico Magistretti and Hungarian-American architect and designer Marcel Breuer, creator of the Wassily lounge chair.
By the late 1960s, Stendig Co. moved its headquarters to an expansive space on Manhattan’s East Side and opened showrooms in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago, each home to the company’s striking collection of mid-century European armchairs, sofas, dining room chairs, coffee tables and other furnishings. Stendig’s founder was by then representing Italian manufacturers Poltronova and Gufram and bringing revolutionary works of Italian Radical design to American shores.
In 1971, Charles Stendig sold the company to Burlington Industries. He retired in 1976. Today Stendig’s European imports are coveted by interior designers and vintage furniture collectors, and he will be forever known as the man who introduced modern European design to the United States.
Find a range of vintage Stendig Co. furniture 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.