Stendig Co. Rocking Chairs
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.
Mid-20th Century Czech Mid-Century Modern Stendig Co. Rocking Chairs
Wicker, Wood, Bentwood
1960s Unknown Mid-Century Modern Vintage Stendig Co. Rocking Chairs
Wool, Walnut
Early 1900s German Arts and Crafts Antique Stendig Co. Rocking Chairs
Bentwood
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Stendig Co. Rocking Chairs
Cane, Bentwood
Late 19th Century Austrian Belle Époque Antique Stendig Co. Rocking Chairs
Beech, Bentwood
Early 20th Century Austrian Vienna Secession Stendig Co. Rocking Chairs
Cane, Bentwood
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Stendig Co. Rocking Chairs
Beech
1970s German Bauhaus Vintage Stendig Co. Rocking Chairs
Steel
1980s Mexican Modern Vintage Stendig Co. Rocking Chairs
Wood
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Stendig Co. Rocking Chairs
Oak
Early 1900s Austrian Art Nouveau Antique Stendig Co. Rocking Chairs
Bentwood
1950s Belgian Bohemian Vintage Stendig Co. Rocking Chairs
Bamboo
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Stendig Co. Rocking Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Stendig Co. Rocking Chairs
Chrome
20th Century Czech Bauhaus Stendig Co. Rocking Chairs
Cane, Bentwood
