Pair of X Lounge Chair by Hvidt & Mølgaard
View Similar Items
Pair of X Lounge Chair by Hvidt & Mølgaard
About the Item
- Creator:Fritz Hansen (Cabinetmaker),Hvidt & Mølgaard (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 25.99 in (66 cm)Width: 17.33 in (44 cm)Depth: 18.12 in (46 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Scandinavian Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1970s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Lejre, DK
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1020811138421
Hvidt & Mølgaard
Warm, exceptionally versatile and crafted with a range of appealing materials, vintage Peter Hvidt and Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen furniture showcases the Danish duo’s penchant for innovation and durable design. For decades, the pair created sleek coffee tables, seductive lounge chairs and other pieces that are characterized by the practicality and elegance commonly attributed to Scandinavian modernism.
Both Hvidt and Mølgaard-Nielsen attended what is now the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, with Mølgaard-Nielsen having completed his studies under the Danish furniture design pioneer and architect Kaare Klint. Trained as an architect and cabinetmaker, Hvidt established his own firm in 1940 and taught at his alma mater for a few years. After they won a design competition held in Stockholm, Hvidt partnered with Mølgaard-Nielsen in 1944 to establish their firm in Copenhagen.
The collaboration between Hvidt and Mølgaard-Nielsen yielded more than 250 designs and lasted over 30 years. Aside from having created a wardrobe for the Queen of Denmark as well as numerous architectural structures, the pair’s flagship achievements include 1944’s teak Portex chair, which is Denmark’s first-ever stacking chair (and is occasionally attributed to Hvidt alone), and the AX chair.
A masterpiece of technical expertise and innovative woodworking, the sculptural AX armchair shares commonalities with the work of legendary Finnish designer Alvar Aalto — whose output included similarly curvaceous seating such as the Paimio armchair, often designed in partnership with his wife, Aino. It features double-curved laminated wood in the seat and back — which could be mass-produced — and is an early example of knock-down furniture. This meant that it could be easily dismantled and assembled at its destination, which rendered the chair economical for transport on cargo ships and therefore could reach a worldwide audience.
While vintage Hvidt & Mølgaard furniture isn’t as popular as the work of Finn Juhl, a like-minded Danish modernist who helped popularize Scandinavian design in America as well as the use of teak in furniture, the innovative AX chair is similarly as expressive and inviting as Juhl’s seating. The AX was designed in collaboration with manufacturer Fritz Hansen during the late 1940s and went into production in 1950. It gave way to a series that includes tables and other types of seating.
Hvidt and Mølgaard-Nielsen collaborated regularly with Fritz Hansen, France & Søn and Søborg Møbelfabrik. Their work can be found in New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen’s Design Museum and the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.
Find vintage Hvidt & Mølgaard dining tables, coffee tables, modular sofas, storage cabinets and more on 1stDibs.
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.
- Pair of Danish Lounge Chairs by Magnus L. Stephensen, 1940sBy Fritz Hansen, Magnus StephensenLocated in Lejre, DKPair of lounge chairs in beech and leather, designed by Magnus L. Stephensen and made by Danish cabinetmaker Fritz Hansen in the 1940s.Category
Vintage 1940s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Beech
- Pair of Side Tables in Solid Teak by Hvidt & Mølgaard, Made in DenmarkBy France & Søn, Hvidt & MølgaardLocated in Lejre, DKPair of mid-century side tables in solid teak with brass legs. Designed by Peter Hvidt and Orla Mølgaard for France & Son in 1960s. Made in Denmark. Great original condition.Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Side Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Midcentury Armchair in Teak by Hvidt & Mølgaard, 1960sBy Gustav Bertelsen, Hvidt & MølgaardLocated in Lejre, DKSide chair in teak and fabric, designed by Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard for cabinetmaker Gustav Bertelsen. Great original condition.Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsFabric, Teak
- Pair of Lounge Chairs Model Ge460 by Hans Wegner, 1970sBy GETAMA, Hans J. WegnerLocated in Lejre, DKPair of GE 460 lounge chairs in original condition. Designed by Hans J. Wegner M.A.A for GETAMA in 1978. Great condition. Made in Denmark.Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Beech
- Midcentury Cabinet in Solid Teak Designed by Hvidt & Mølgaard, 1950sBy Søborg Møbelfabrik, Hvidt & MølgaardLocated in Lejre, DKCabinet in solid teak with tambour doors. Finger- jointed case on round legs. Designed by Hvidt and Mølgaard for Søborg Møbler in 1958. Made in Denmark. Great original condition.Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Cabinets
MaterialsTeak
- Pair of Pristine Midcentury Lounge Chairs in Patinated Leather by Kaare KlintBy Rud Rasmussen, Kaare KlintLocated in Lejre, DKPair of safari chairs in patinated leather. Designed by Maa. Kaare Klint for Rud Rasmussen Cabinetmakers of Denmark in 1933. Great original condition.Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Ash
- Ax Lounge Chair by Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard-NielsenBy Hvidt & Mølgaard, Fritz HansenLocated in Sagaponack, NYA Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen designed Scandinavian Modern lounge chair in a sculptural and innovative armless design. Made of laminated teak and beech, the chair features a ...Category
Vintage 1940s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBeech, Teak
- High Back Lounge Chair by Hvidt and Molgaard, NielsenBy John Stuart, Hvidt & MølgaardLocated in New York, NYDramatic high back version of the iconic Hvidt - Molgaard lounge chair, made by France and Daverkorsen, distributed by John Stuart Inc. This example is in very fine, original, untouc...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Teak
- Peter Hvidt and Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen Ax Lounge Chair for Fritz HansenBy Hvidt & Mølgaard, Fritz HansenLocated in Munich, BavariaPeter Hvidt and Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen AX easy lounge armchair for Fritz Hansen. Oak wood lacquered. Arms made of beech wood. Danish classic armchair with high comfort.Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBeech, Oak
- Lounge Chair by Peter Hvidt & Orla Molgaard-Nielsen for France & DaverkosenBy Hvidt & Mølgaard, France & DaverkosenLocated in Little Burstead, EssexAn original version of this very stylish lounge chair by Hvidt & Molgaard-Nielsen, the frame in great condition, and the covers freshly recovered in best quality wool fabric in the o...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsWool, Beech, Teak
- Danish lounge chairs "FD 145" by Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard-NielsenBy Hvidt & Mølgaard, France & DaverkosenLocated in Hägersten, SEPair of easy chairs model "FD 145" designed by Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen in 1953. Produced in Denmark by France & Daverkosen during the 1950s. Solid beech frame with teak a...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsWool, Beech, Teak
- Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard Nielsen Chair Model '6103' in CaneBy Hvidt & Mølgaard, Fritz HansenLocated in Waalwijk, NLPeter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard Nielsen for Fritz Hansen, 'X-chair model '6103', cane, wood, beech, Denmark, designed in 1958 This chair is for obvious reasons nicknamed the 'X-chair'. ...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsCane, Wood, Beech