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Stendig Co.

American

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.

Average Sold Price
$10,190
Styles
Materials
Related Creators
Set of Six Josef Hoffmann for Stendig Bentwood and Cane Model 811 Prague Chairs
By Josef Hoffmann, Stendig Co.
Located in Germantown, MD
Original Set of Six Josef Hoffmann for Stendig Bentwood and Cane Model 811 Prague Chairs. Four side chairs and two armchairs. Measures 18"W x 20" D and 32" height for the side chairs...
Category

Mid-20th Century Czech Mid-Century Modern Stendig Co.

Materials

Cane, Bentwood, Plywood

1930s Josef Hoffmann No. 811 Prague Bentwood & Cane Dining Chairs – Set of 6
By Josef Hoffmann, Stendig Co.
Located in Farmington Hills, MI
We are very pleased to offer an early edition of the iconic No. 811 Prague Bentwood Chair, circa the 1930s. Designed by Josef Hoffmann, this design was first introduced as the A64F ...
Category

1930s Czech Bauhaus Vintage Stendig Co.

Materials

Cane, Bentwood

Cesca Armchair by Marcel Breuer for Stendig
By Stendig Co., Marcel Breuer
Located in Dorchester, MA
First manufactured in 1928 by Thonet, Marcel Breuer's Cesca Chair has become an icon of modern chair design. This version of the armchair has an original tubular steel-frame with bee...
Category

20th Century Italian Bauhaus Stendig Co.

Materials

Chrome

Cesca Armchair by Marcel Breuer for Stendig
Cesca Armchair by Marcel Breuer for Stendig
H 31.5 in W 23.5 in D 23.5 in
Pair of Vintage Mid-Century Modern canvas Wassily Lounge Chairs for Knoll
By Knoll, Marcel Breuer, Stendig Co.
Located in BROOKLYN, NY
Pair of Vintage Mid-Century Modern natural canvas cloth wassily lounge chairs for Knoll. The Wassily lounge chair was originally designed by Marcel Breuer has flat caps on the end tu...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Stendig Co.

Materials

Steel, Chrome

Mid Century Robert Haussmann for Stendig RH-304 De Sede Chairs Set of 8
By De Sede, Robert Haussmann, Stendig Co.
Located in BROOKLYN, NY
A unique set of (8) RH-304 or 'Polaris' Suede/ Leather chairs. designed by Robert Haussmann and manufactured by Stendig De Sede. This set was made circa 1960. these chairs are uphols...
Category

1960s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Vintage Stendig Co.

Materials

Chrome

Pair Signed Stendig Marcel Breuer Wassily Lounge Chairs Italy 60s Black Leather
By Marcel Breuer, Stendig Co.
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Designed by Bauhaus legend Marcel Breuer, these iconic chairs were made by the collaborative efforts of Stendig and Gavina during the mid to late 1960s. Stendig was not always just a...
Category

1960s Italian Bauhaus Vintage Stendig Co.

Materials

Steel, Chrome

4 Black Bentwood & Cane Josef Hoffman Prague 811 Armchairs for Stendig by Thonet
By Stendig Co., Thonet, Josef Hoffmann
Located in Topeka, KS
Iconic vintage Bauhaus black painted bentwood & cane Josef Hoffman Prague 811 armchairs imported by Stendig for Thonet, a set of 4. Beautiful condition, keeping in mind that these are vintage and not new so will have signs of use and wear even if it has been refinished or restored. Specifically, there have been a few small repairs in the caning of all chairs and one chair seat has been replaced completely. It has been replaced with sheet cane and not individually woven. Please see photos, zoom in for details, and see long description as they are part of the condition report. We attempt to portray any imperfections. Circa, Early to Mid-20th Century. Much like a fine wine or the Mona Lisa, some things just get better with age… That’s just a fact! Including these iconic vintage black painted bentwood & cane Josef Hoffman Prague 811 armchairs by Stendig for Thonet! Talk about the ability to withstand the hands of time!! This Josef Hoffman 811 chair was originally designed in 1925 but remains a current and fabulous design that is highly sought after today. This set of 4 is comprised of beautiful black painted bentwood frames bearing slender rounded arms, slightly flared legs, and marvelous natural cane seats AND backs!! SPECTACULAR!!! Can’t you just SEE these beauties surrounding your kitchen table, breakfast nook, game table, or simply used as extra seating in the family room? We certainly can! Just the right touch of Bauhaus magnificence to any room and they’re sure to complement your home with their classic, historical excellence, whatever your style whether its Bauhaus, Art Deco, Mid-Century Modern, or Modern!! Josef Hoffman was one of Austria's most important architects and designers and was central to the development of art and design in Vienna. He grew up with three sisters and was nicknamed Pepo. His father was the town mayor and a successful businessman. He was a founding member of the Vienna Secession, a radical anti-historicist movement, and together with Koloman Moser created the Wiener Werkstatte cooperative workshop. A highly individualistic architect and designer, Hoffmann's work combined the simplicity of craft production with a refined aesthetic ornament. Between 1901 and 1905, he designed four villas in Vienna and a sanatorium in Brussels that was called “Stoclet House”, for which he developed a “cubistic” language of form, with an emphasis on straight, unadorned lines. In 1905, he established the Kunstschau with painter Gustav Klimt and, two years later, founded the Deutscher Werkbund. Hoffmann worked well into his 80s, continuing to use the geometric motifs that influenced the art deco style of the 1920s. In 1928 his work appeared in the Art in Industry exhibition held at Macy’s in New York City, where it exerted a strong influence on American designer Donald Deskey. Hoffmann is one of the seminal figures in the modern decorative arts movement of the first half of the 20th century. Stendig was totally the brainchild and passion of Charles W. Stendig. You cannot write or talk about Stendig without explaining Charles. He was a pioneer of import goods in the mid-century. After serving in WWII as a paratrooper, he studied business with emphasis on international trade at NYU and City College of New York. Afterward first working for Raymor, another pioneering distribution company, for about two years, departing to start his own business: Stendig. He opened his first showroom in 1956 in midtown Manhattan. He is credited for sparking America’s interest in furniture from Finland, Switzerland, Italy, and Czechoslovakia. He imported from the likes of Thonet, Asko, and De Sede; and from iconic designers including Le Corbusier, Josef Hoffmann, Eero Aarnio, Tapio Wirkkala, Marcel Breuer, Jonathan De Pas, Donato D’Urbino, Paolo Lomazzi, Carlo Mollino, Carlo Scarpa, and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni to name just a few. By the late 1960’s, Stendig had showrooms in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco with a large headquarters in NYC. They were exciting and good times but short lived. The business was a challenge and when an offer was made by Burlington Industries to purchase, Charles agreed. He stayed on till 1976 to oversee and then retired. I have searched the internet to no avail to find out if a Stendig division is still in operation. But I can only find the Stendig Calendar, the only calendar in MoMA’s collection, which was designed for Stendig by Mossimo Vignelli, still offered. But I am having a hard time deciding who is creating and offering it. I do know Burlington Industries was bankrupt by 2001, purchased in 2003, merged with Cone Mills in 2004 and subsequently into ITG or International Textile Group. But the Stendig name reins as an icon of high style mid-century offerings. Thonet was founded by Michael Thonet. Michael was born in 1796 and was apprenticed by his father to a cabinetmaker. Shortly after he married, Michael opened his one-man cabinetmaking shop creating furniture and cabinetry in the traditional manner by carving the needed parts and then joining them together. In 1830 he began experimenting with bending wood into curved shapes and thus began a successful furniture company that has remained continually in operation for nearly 200 years. Thonet’s early work was very Biedermeier in style and not made for the common man. Gradually his designs became more Art Nouveau. In 1951 his chairs for the Crystal Palace at the London World’s Fair won a prize medal and by the late 1950s he began to make his first “consumer” chair. In 1875, a year before Michael’s death, Thonet’s five factories made 620,000 chairs. Then in 1876 after his death the company became Gebruder Thonet. But all was not roses. In 1869 the Thonet patents lapsed and by 1893 there were 52 bentwood companies in Europe. However, Thonet persevered. They branched out. They merged. They added designs by Le Corbusier and Breuer and alternative materials such as tubular chrome in place of bentwood to their offerings. Business boomed and waned through the years and there was even a Thonet revival, so to speak, beginning in the 1940s on into the mid-20th century. Till today, in the 21st century, Thonet is still a furniture company to be reckoned with almost 200 years later. We are in love with this iconic set of 4 Prague 811 chairs...
Category

Early 20th Century Czech Bauhaus Stendig Co.

Materials

Cane, Bentwood, Paint

Mid century Chrome Black leather 3 seat bench by Ilmari Tapiovaara Finland
By Ilmari Tapiovaara, Stendig Co.
Located in BROOKLYN, NY
Mid Century Chrome Black leather 3 seat Bench Early production by Designer Ilmari Tapiovaara for Stendig furniture chrome bench with original label. Made in Finland. Located in Brook...
Category

1970s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Stendig Co.

Materials

Chrome

Browse all Furniture from Stendig Co.
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Stendig Co. Sale Prices

Sold DateSold PriceCategoryMaterialCreation Year
2025$3,000Dining Room ChairsFabric, Bouclé, Wood, RosewoodCirca 1980s
2025$3,300Dining Room TablesSteel, Oak, Chrome1970
2025$1,900Dining Room ChairsRattanCirca Mid 20th Century
2024$53,438Sectional SofasLeather, Felt1972
2024$1,300Dining Room ChairsSuede, Chrome1960s
2024$900Club Chairs, Lounge ChairsSteel, Leather, Chrome1960
2024$35,000Sofas, Sectional SofasLeather, Fabric1970s
2024$4,000Dining Room ChairsCane, Bentwoodcirca 1960s
2024$1,250Dining Room ChairsCane, Wood, Bentwood1960s
2024$4,800Dining Room ChairsLeather, Suede, Chrome1960s
2024$3,200End Tables, Coffee and Cocktail TablesChrome, Formicacirca 1970s
$10,190
Average sold price of items in the past 12 months
$900-$53,438
Sold price range of items in the past 12 months

Creators Similar to Stendig Co.

Stendig Co. furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

Stendig Co. furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of metal and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Stendig Co. furniture, although black editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original furniture by Stendig Co. were created in the mid-century modern style in europe during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider furniture by Pozzi, Charles Pfister, and Brickel Associates. Prices for Stendig Co. furniture can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $650 and can go as high as $23,500, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $4,100.

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