FH 1669 - Pair of rare easy chairs by Fritz Hansen
About the Item
- Creator:Fritz Hansen (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 29.53 in (75 cm)Width: 28.35 in (72 cm)Depth: 29.53 in (75 cm)Seat Height: 16.93 in (43 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Scandinavian Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Circa 1930's
- Condition:Reupholstered.
- Seller Location:Copenhagen, DK
- Reference Number:
Fritz Hansen
When the Copenhagen-based furniture maker Fritz Hansen opened for business more than 140 years ago, the company — which today styles itself The Republic of Fritz Hansen — adhered to the traditional, time-honored Danish values of craftsmanship in woodworking and joinery. Yet thanks to the postwar innovations of Arne Jacobsen and others, Fritz Hansen would become the country’s leader in Scandinavian modern design using new, forward-looking materials and methods.
Fritz Hansen started his company in 1872, specializing in the manufacture of small furniture parts. In 1915, the firm became the first in Denmark to make chairs using steam-bent wood (a technique most familiar from birch used in the ubiquitous café chairs by Austrian maker Thonet). At the time, Fritz Hansen was best known for seating that featured curved legs and curlicue splats and referenced 18th-century Chippendale designs.
In the next few decades, the company promoted simple, plain chairs with slatted backs and cane or rush seats designed by such proto-modernist masters as Kaare Klint and Søren Hansen. Still, the most aesthetically striking piece Fritz Hansen produced in the first half of the 20th century was arguably the China chair of 1944 by Hans Wegner — and that piece, with its yoke-shaped bentwood back- and armrest, was based on seating manufactured in China during the Ming dynasty. (Wegner was moved by portraits he’d seen of Danish merchants in the Chinese chairs.)
Everything changed in 1952 with Arne Jacobsen’s Ant chair. The collaboration between the architect and Fritz Hansen officially originated in 1934 — that year, Jacobsen created his inaugural piece for the manufacturer, the solid beechwood Bellevue chair for a restaurant commission. The Ant chair, however, was the breakthrough.
With assistance from his then-apprentice Verner Panton, Jacobsen designed the Ant chair for the cafeteria of a Danish healthcare company called Novo Nordisk. The chair was composed of a seat and backrest formed from a single piece of molded plywood attached, in its original iteration, to three tubular metal legs. Its silhouette suggests the shape of the insect’s body, and the lightweight, stackable chair and its biomorphic form became an international hit.
Jacobsen followed with more plywood successes, such as the Grand Prix chair of 1957. The following year he designed the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen and its furnishings, including the Egg chair and the Swan chair. Those two upholstered pieces, with their lush, organic frames made of fiberglass-reinforced polyurethane, have become the two chairs most emblematic of mid-20th-century cool. Moreover, the Egg and Swan led Fritz Hansen to fully embrace new man-made materials, like foam, plastic and steel wire used to realize the avant-garde creations of later generations of designers with whom the firm collaborated, such as Piet Hein, Jørn Utzon (the architect of the Sydney Opera House) and Verner Panton. If the Fritz Hansen of 1872 would not now recognize his company, today’s connoisseurs certainly do.
Find a collection of vintage Fritz Hansen tables, lounge chairs, sofas and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Copenhagen, Denmark
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- FH 6107 - Set of four armchairs in steel by Fritz Hansen.By Fritz HansenLocated in Copenhagen, DKFH 6107 - Set of four armchairs in steel, stained beech and original French wicker. Designed in 1934. Fritz HansenCategory
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Pair of Easy Chairs by Preben Fabricius & Jørgen KastholmBy Kusch+CoLocated in Copenhagen, DKEasy chairs with a cantilever frame in chromed steel, upholstered in green wool with black leather armrests. Maker Kusch & Co.Category
Mid-20th Century German Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Pair of Easy Chairs by Tove & Edvard Kindt Larsen.By Gustav BertelsenLocated in Copenhagen, DKEasy chairs in green wool with mahogany frame. Maker Gustav Bertelsen.Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsMahogany
- Pair of easy chairs model JH 703 by Hans J. WegnerBy Hans J. WegnerLocated in Copenhagen, DKPair of JH 703 easy chairs by Hans J. Wegner / Johannes Hansen.Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Rare NV45 Easy Chair in Brazilian rosewoodBy Finn JuhlLocated in Copenhagen, DKModel NV 45 - Rare easy chair in Rio rosewood (Brazilian rosewood) and new, light 'Savak' wool with natural leather finishes. Stamped from the workshop. First exhibited at the Cabinetmakers' Guild Furniture...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsRosewood
- Set of Two Easy Chairs by Poul KjærholmBy Poul KjærholmLocated in Copenhagen, DKSet of PK 31/1 - easy chairs in black patinated leather on a steel frame. Maker E. Kold Christensen.Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Fritz Hansen Pair of Easy Chairs, Model 1669By Fritz HansenLocated in Copenhagen, DKPair of Fritz Hansen easy chairs, model 1669, circa 1930s. Sculptural chairs re-upholstered in wool, legs of stained beech. All reupholstery work carried out with filling in organic ...Category
Vintage 1930s Danish Scandinavian Modern Chairs
MaterialsSheepskin, Beech
- Fritz Hansen 1669 Easy Chairs, 1940sBy Fritz HansenLocated in Stockholm, SENewly upholstered in honey colored sheepskin. Produced by Fritz Hansen in Denmark, 1940s. Very good condition.Category
Vintage 1940s Danish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsSheepskin
- Fritz Hansen Pair of Easy Chairs in Sheepskin, Model 1669By Fritz HansenLocated in Copenhagen, DKPair of Fritz Hansen easy chairs in sheepskin, model 1669, 1930s Sculptural chairs re-upholstered in sheepskin, legs of stained beech. All reupholstery work carried out with filling...Category
Vintage 1930s Danish Scandinavian Modern Chairs
MaterialsSheepskin, Beech
- Ernst Heilmann-Sevaldsen Easy Chairs Model FH-7 Produced by Fritz HansenLocated in Limhamn, Skåne länVery rare pair of easy chairs model FH-7 designed by Ernst Heilmann-Sevaldsen. Produced by Fritz Hansen in Denmark.Category
Vintage 1930s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Fabric, Bouclé, Beech
- Arne Jacobsen, Swan Chair, rare version wood legs, 1965, by Fritz Hansen, FH4325By Arne Jacobsen, Fritz HansenLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireRare original Swan chair designed by Arne Jacobsen and manufactured by Fritz Hansen in Copenhagen, Denmark. For a limited period in the 1960s, a small number of Swan chairs were p...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsWrought Iron
- Fritz Hansen High Back Lounge Chair, Model 1669, Denmark, 1940sBy Fritz HansenLocated in Berlin, DEA rare Fritz Hansen high back version of the 1669 lounge armchair. Designed and manufactured by Fritz Hansen, New upholstered in raw natural p...Category
Vintage 1940s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsOak