Fritz Hansen High Back Lounge Chair, Model 1669, Denmark, 1940s
About the Item
- Creator:Fritz Hansen (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 37.41 in (95 cm)Width: 34.26 in (87 cm)Depth: 33.86 in (86 cm)Seat Height: 15.75 in (40 cm)
- Style:Scandinavian Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:Oak,Stained
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1940
- Condition:Refinished. Reupholstered.
- Seller Location:Berlin, DE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1488230993622
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: Berlin, Germany
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Sculptural Danish Easy Chairs, Solid Teak, 1960sLocated in Berlin, DEA pair of rare sculptural teak armchairs, Danish work from the 1960s. Absolute eye catcher and quite comfortable. Excellent vintage condition.Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsTeak
- Uno & Östen Kristiansson, Lounge Chairs in Pine, Luxus, Sweden, 1970By Luxus Vittsjö, Uno & Östen KristianssonLocated in Berlin, DEA pair of large, great and rare easy chairs by Swedish designers Uno & Östen Kristiansson. Executed by Luxus in Sweden 1970. Solid pine and original upholstery. Extremely comfortable...Category
Vintage 1970s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsPine
- Otto Schulz Easy Chair, Sweden, Produced by Boet, 1940sBy Otto Schulz, BoetLocated in Berlin, DEOtto Schulz, slipper chair, restored and new reupholstered in alpaca. Excellent condition.Category
Vintage 1940s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Slipper Chairs
MaterialsAlpaca, Beech
- Set of 4 High Back Stained Pine Chairs, Attributed to Axel Einar Hjorth, SwedenBy Axel Einar HjorthLocated in Berlin, DESet of 4 dining chairs in acid stained pine, attributed to Axel Einar Hjorth, model Lovö, Sweden 1930s.Category
Vintage 1930s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsPine
- Marco Zanuso 'Lady' Chairs, Early Arflex Edition, circa 1951By Marco Zanuso, ArflexLocated in Berlin, DEPair of 'Lady' armchairs by Marco Zanuso. Very early 'Arflex' edition with wooden frame, Italy, circa 1951.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBrass
- Göran Malmvall, Bench in Solid Pine, K.Anderson & Söner, Sweden, 1940sBy Goran MalmvallLocated in Berlin, DEPine bench model "Svensk Fur", designed by Göran Malmvall and executed by Larl Andersson & Söner in Sweden the 1940s. Great vintage patina, ready to use.Category
Vintage 1940s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Benches
MaterialsPine
- Ole Wanscher “Model 1673” High Back Chair for Fritz Hansen, Denmark, 1940sBy Fritz Hansen, Ole WanscherLocated in Utrecht, NLThe simple and refined aesthetic of this chair stems from Ole Wanscher’s reinvention of classic forms, for which he became a key-player of the Danish mid-century movement. In this m...Category
Vintage 1940s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Wood
- Ole Wanscher “Model 1673” High Back Chairs for Fritz Hansen, Denmark 1940sBy Fritz Hansen, Ole WanscherLocated in Utrecht, NLThe simple and refined aesthetic of this pair of chairs stems from Ole Wanscher’s reinvention of classic forms, for which he became a key-player of the Danish mid-century movement. ...Category
Vintage 1940s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Wood
- Fritz Hansen Model 1669 Lounge Chair In White Wool, Denmark 1940'sBy Fritz HansenLocated in Zwijndrecht, AntwerpIconic easy chair made by Fritz Hansen in the 1940's or early 1950's. This model is rarely seen and one of the 1669 variants. It was newly upholstered in a shearling white wool and h...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSheepskin, Wool, Beech
- Fritz Hansen Style 1940s Danish Channel Back Lounge ChairBy Fritz HansenLocated in Bridgeport, CTUnique highback lounge chair with channeled back and seat made in Denmark in the late 1930s or early 1940s. Unual to see channels both in the back and the seat. Very much in the styl...Category
Vintage 1940s Danish Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsWool, Beech
- vintage Fritz Hansen lounge chair | model 1518 | 1940sBy Fritz HansenLocated in GRONINGEN, NLvintage Fritz Hansen lounge chair | model 1518 | 1940s period | 1940s design | Fritz Hansen | model 1518 Denmark condition | good | newly upholstered size | 82 x 92 x 95 (hxwxd) sea...Category
Vintage 1940s Danish Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Wood
- Pair of Danish 1940s Midcentury Fritz Hansen Style Low Back Lounge ChairsBy Fritz Hansen, Alfred ChristensenLocated in Bridgeport, CTClassic Danish very comfortable high back armchair from the 1940s in the style of Fritz Hansen and Alfred Christensen with open armrests in beautifully curved elm wood. Nice slim ele...Category
Vintage 1940s Danish Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBeech