Early Børge Mogensen, 'The Spanish chair', 1958

Although Børge Mogensen (1914–72) conceived of his Spanish chair after a 1958 inspiring trip to Spain (hence its name), where the use of robust leather as a part of seat construction is integral to a national legacy of furniture making, the Danish designer had been by then long occupied with making practical and functional furniture that could be of use in one’s home every day.

Mogensen studied under Kaare Klint at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and began his career as a teaching assistant to the Scandinavian design master. Not long after Mogensen participated in MoMA’s famous "International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design" in 1948, he opened his own design studio.

Mogensen began to collaborate with architect Andreas Graversen, who bought the manufacturer Fredericia Furniture in 1955. Graversen’s acquisition launched a long tradition of producing Mogensen’s furniture at Fredericia, and in 1958, the manufacturer introduced the Spanish chair, which is today one of Mogensen’s most recognizable designs. 

The Spanish chair exemplifies Mogensen’s proclivity toward working with simple, natural materials. The wood-and-leather sling chair also references the designer’s longtime fascination with Japanese woodworking and reveals his dedication to designing for ultimate comfort.

With its sturdy, unpretentious frame of solid oak and its back and seat in supple saddle leather attached with adjustable straps, the Spanish chair is indeed one of the most comfort-conscious chairs on the planet. But it can’t help being beautiful, too: Contrast stitching on the leather and the juxtaposition of its smooth surface with the frame’s wood grain make it an unintentional statement piece. The Spanish chair is still produced by Fredericia Furniture.

Among the great mid-20th century Danish furniture designers, Børge Mogensen distinguished himself with his faith to traditional values of craftsmanship and honesty of materials.

While peers such as Hans Wegner, Finn Juhl and Arne Jacobsen designed some of the most striking and now iconic furnishings of the era, Mogensen focused on making chairs, sofas and other pieces that were simple, durable and comfortable — and in the long run perhaps more useful and better loved.

Mogensen studied under and later worked for Kaare Klint, a master cabinetmaker whose chief tenets were quality of construction and simplicity of line. Klint was a classicist, who believed that furniture forms should evolve from those of historical models. So, too, in his way was Mogensen, as two of his best-known earlier pieces attest.

His 1945 Spokeback sofa, with hinged arms that can be lowered to facilitate lounging, is a reinterpretation of the venerable Knole settee. With the oval silhouette of its plywood backrest and waterdrop-shaped cutouts, Mogensen’s Shell chair, designed in 1949, can be seen as a novel take on early 19th-century Empire side chairs.

Yet Mogensen shared the aesthetical sensibilities of his most forward-looking colleagues. His cabinets deploy the same spare geometries and lushly figured woods as those of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his disciple Florence Knoll, the chief difference being that Mies and Knoll used chrome steel for the frames and legs of their pieces. The brawny oak frames and slung leather seats and backrests of Mogensen’s Hunting chair (1950) and Spanish chair (1958) display the same hefty construction and appreciation of natural materials seen in the work of Charlotte Perriand and Sergio Rodrigues.

Mogensen designed for function more than sculptural effect. While his chairs may not be the first pieces in a décor to draw the eye, they are often the first to draw in those looking for a comfortable seat.

Find vintage Børge Mogensen dining tables, bookcases and other Scandinavian modern furniture for sale on 1stDibs.