Alvar Aalto Model 400 "Tank" Chairs in Swans Island Company Blankets, Pair
About the Item
- Creator:Alvar Aalto (Designer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 25 in (63.5 cm)Width: 30 in (76.2 cm)Depth: 33 in (83.82 cm)Seat Height: 16 in (40.64 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Scandinavian Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:20th century
- Condition:Reupholstered. Refinished. Beautiful, like new condition. The arms have been sanded and restored. The seats have been rebuilt and newly upholstered. Like new.
- Seller Location:SAINT LOUIS, MO
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1701237373692
Tank Armchair
In 1936, Finnish designer Alvar Aalto (1898–1976), a graduate of the Helsinki University of Technology who had just moved the practice he ran with his first wife, Aino, from the Finnish city of Turku to Helsinki, presented a new chair at the Milan Triennale. Compared to Aalto’s previous furniture designs, the Armchair 400, or Tank armchair, was robust, with a wide and sturdy shape that earned it its name.
Prior to this, Aalto had seen success in 1933 for his Stool 60, a simple wood design that remains one of the most celebrated seats in design history. Next to the Stool 60, the Tank armchair was, well, a tank.
But the cantilevered seat garnered widespread approval in Milan, even earning Aalto a prize from the fair. Like the Stool 60, though, the Tank armchair makes use of gracefully bent birchwood. Much of Aalto’s work involved native birch, which he referred to as a “form-inspiring, deeply human material.” This attitude speaks to the designer’s approach, which was always to integrate architecture and design both with its surroundings and the movements of its users.
With the Tank, Aalto created what he saw as the ideal chair: Its upholstered seat offers comfort, but the cantilevered form ensures it remains elegant, as do the sculptural, curving armrests, each cut from a single piece of birch. The shape also gives it flexibility, making it suitable for both leaning back and relaxing or sitting upright for conversation.
The continued popularity of the Tank armchair — and the increase in popularity in cantilevered seats in the years following its release — speaks to the importance of Aalto’s early experiments in bentwood, a material that would come to be a defining aspect of mid-century furniture design. Years later, for example, American designers Charles and Ray Eames would begin producing pieces in bent and molded plywood created with their famous homemade “Kazam! Machine.”
In 1939, upon seeing Aalto’s work for the Finnish Pavilion at the World’s Fair, Frank Lloyd Wright (who also had a certain love affair with wood, although the renowned architect’s species of choice was mahogany) reportedly called Aalto a “genius.”
The Tank armchair is produced by Artek, which the Aaltos helped cofound. It is available in a wide variety of upholstery and wood-stain options, including the eye-catching zebra pattern, an unexpected offering from a company whose palette tends to be more muted but a popular version of the chair since its early days.
Alvar Aalto
An architect and designer, Alvar Aalto deserves an immense share of the credit for bringing Scandinavian modernism and Nordic design to a prominent place in the global arena. In both his buildings and his vintage furniture — which ranges from chairs, stools, tables and lighting to table- and glassware — Aalto’s sensitivity to the natural world and to organic forms and materials tempered the hardness of rationalist design.
Relatively few Aalto buildings exist outside Finland. (Just four exist in the United States, and only one — the sinuous 1945 Baker House dormitory at M.I.T. — is easily visited.) International attention came to Aalto, whose surname translates to English as “wave,” primarily through his furnishings.
Instead of the tubular metal framing favored by the Bauhaus designers and Le Corbusier, Aalto insisted on wood. His aesthetic is best represented by the Paimio armchair, developed with his wife, Aino Aalto, in 1930 as part of the overall design of a Finnish tuberculosis sanatorium.
Comfortable, yet light enough to be easily moved by patients, the Paimio chair’s frame is composed of two laminated birch loops; the seat and back are formed from a single sheet of plywood that scrolls under the headrest and beneath the knees, creating a sort of pillow effect. Aalto’s use of plywood had an enormous influence on Charles and Ray Eames, Arne Jacobsen, Marcel Breuer and others who later came to the material.
Concerned with keeping up standards of quality in the production of his designs, Aalto formed the still-extant company Artek in 1935, along with Aino, whose glass designs were made by the firm. In the latter medium, in 1936 the Aaltos together created the iconic, undulating Savoy vase, so-called for the luxe Helsinki restaurant for which the piece was designed.
Artek also produced Aalto pendants and other lighting designs, many of which — such as the Angel’s Wing floor lamp and the Beehive pendant — incorporate a signature Aalto detail: shades made of concentric enameled-metal rings graduated down in diameter. The effect of the technique is essential Alvar Aalto: at once precise, simple, and somehow poetic.
Find a collection of vintage Alvar Aalto stools, vases, dining tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: SAINT LOUIS, MO
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 10 days of delivery.
- Hans Wegner Model CH445 Wing Chairs, PairBy Hans J. WegnerLocated in SAINT LOUIS, MOFrom Carl Hansen & Søn website: The CH445 wing chair is a high-backed, upholstered armchair with a stainless steel frame. Hans J. Wegner’s expertise for sculptu...Category
2010s European Lounge Chairs
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Hans Wegner Model CH445 Wing Chairs in Pierre Frey Mohair Velvet, PairBy Carl Hansen & Søn, Hans J. WegnerLocated in SAINT LOUIS, MOFrom Carl Hansen & Søn website: The CH445 Wing Chair is a high-backed, upholstered armchair with a stainless steel frame. Hans J. Wegner’s expertise for sculptu...Category
2010s European Lounge Chairs
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Hans Wegner Model GE 375 Paddle Chair in Saved NY CashmereBy Hans J. WegnerLocated in SAINT LOUIS, MOWith gorgeous patinaed oak, custom cushions handcrafted from cashmere throws by Saved NY, and a finishing touch of beautiful Loro Piana leather, this one-of-...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Fabric, Oak
- Verner Panton Fiberglass Lounge Chairs in Brazilian Cowhide and Leather, PairBy Horlacher, Verner PantonLocated in SAINT LOUIS, MOWow. These chairs are extremely cool. A rare pair of Verner Panton lounges. Panton was passionate about the shapes you could make with plastic and creating futuristic forms. No doubt...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsCowhide, Leather, Fiberglass
- Umberto Riva Arighi Lounge Chairs with Gabriela Hearst Cashmere Blanket CushionsBy Umberto RivaLocated in SAINT LOUIS, MOWe love these lacquered plywood chairs from the designdom of 1980s Italy. For the new custom cushions, we chose colorful, handwoven cashmere throws from Gabriela Hearst. The Gabriela...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Lounge Chairs
MaterialsPlywood
- Augusto Bozzi Lounge Chairs in Inata Alpaca Fabric, pairBy Augusto BozziLocated in SAINT LOUIS, MOAugusto Bozzi was an Italian furniture designer, working closely with manufacturer, Saporiti. These amazing lounge chairs have a such a cool winged shape. They have been masterfully ...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBrass, Iron
- Alvar Aalto 400 ‘Tank’ 1936 Armchair for ArtekBy Alvar AaltoLocated in Tilburg, NLAlvar Aalto 400 ‘Tank’ Armchair for Artek. Designed in 1936. New, current production. As voluminous as it is comfortable, Armchair 400 was created by Alva...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Finnish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsWood, Leather, Fabric
- Alvar Aalto 400 ‘Tank’ 1936 Armchair in Zebra for ArtekBy Alvar AaltoLocated in Tilburg, NLAlvar Aalto 400 ‘Tank’ armchair for Artek. Designed in 1936. New, current production. Please note: price is for a 'Tank' armchair in Zebra upholstery and nat...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Finnish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Fabric, Wood
- Fabulous Pair Zebra Print Alvar Aalto 400 Tank Chair by Artek Mid-CenturyBy Alvar AaltoLocated in Pemberton, NJFabulous pair of Alvar Aalto zebra print Tank chairs. This pair is circa 80s and are in very nice vintage condition. The armchair 400, designed by Al...Category
Vintage 1980s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Birch
- Alvar Aalto Cantilever Chair, Model 31By Alvar AaltoLocated in San Francisco, CAAlvar Aalto cantilever chair, model 31. A very rare 1st edition model 31 lounge chair by Alvar Aalto in birch plywood with a floating bac...Category
Vintage 1930s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsBirch
- Alvar Aalto Model 406 Lounge ChairsBy Alvar AaltoLocated in Highland, INAalto's 1936 design, the model 406 lounge chair is a perfect example of understated Finnish design. The bent wood cantelivered frame of laminated birch and n...Category
Vintage 1930s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBirch
- Early Alvar Aalto 'Model 2' Arm Chair, 1930By O.Y.Huonekalu, Alvar AaltoLocated in Los Angeles, CAOriginal early Alvar Aalto 'Model 2' armchair for O.Y. Huonekalu- ja Rakennustyötehdas A.B., in molded plywood and solid birch. Unrestored condition with partly significant wear. Lat...Category
Vintage 1930s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsPlywood
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
The Very Modern Love Story of Mid-Century Design Duo Alvar and Aino Aalto
A power couple before the term existed, the influential pair made work that still resonates today.
What Makes Scandinavian Modernism and Nordic Design So Irresistible?
Andrew Duncanson, founder of the Stockholm- and London-based gallery Modernity, weighs in on the masters of mid-century furniture and decorative arts.