Antique, new and vintage teak furniture has enduring classic appeal.
While teak credenzas, lounge chairs and coffee tables are luxurious additions to any living room or other interior space, teak outdoor furniture dazzles on patios and by the pool — teak is durable and strong, and can withstand extreme weather conditions. Whether you're indoors or outside, furnishings made of this tropical hardwood tree species have long been popular with design enthusiasts of all kinds.
Appreciated for its dense grain and rich luster, old-growth teak was a sought-after material among mid-century modern designers, who also pushed it to the brink of extinction.
“Teak is incredibly slow-growing, so much of what is still harvested is young, and from a sustainability standpoint, this is far from ideal,” says Brian Volk-Zimmerman of Volk Furniture in Brooklyn. When he does use it, he only goes for reclaimed teak, as many species of the tree have been over-forested.
It wasn’t always this way. In the previous century, according to Jenny Cashin — owner of the shop Mid-Century Modern Home, in British Columbia — Danish designers, and Scandinavian modernists in general, harvested teak as much as they liked. This enhanced their pieces’ handcrafted look and came to define the timeless simple shapes of mid-century modern design. “We still see current teak deck furniture that’s very porous and light,” says Cashin, who specializes in Danish modern and mid-century modern furniture made between 1940 and 1970. However, she notes, “it’s not the same caliber.”
Old-growth teak, aged 150 to 500 years old, is far denser, with a pronounced telltale grain, Cashin says. Though she can’t speak to why it found favor with Danish designers like Jens Risom, an incredibly accomplished, still-obscure furniture designer who created sideboards, dining tables and more in teak. Cashin believes their choice came down to aesthetics. Ben Erickson, a furniture maker in Brooklyn whose leather lounge chair is made of teak, believes it may have been the material’s workability. “Even though it’s not the best on blades because it has a high mineral content, it is really beautiful to turn and shape by hand,” he says. “You can get an amazing luster by hand sanding and oiling it.”
Find a range of antique, new and vintage teak furniture on 1stDibs.
