Rare Original Upholstery Lounge Chair by Folke Ohlsson for Fritz Hansen
View Similar Items
Rare Original Upholstery Lounge Chair by Folke Ohlsson for Fritz Hansen
About the Item
- Creator:Fritz Hansen (Manufacturer),Folke Ohlsson (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 36 in (91.44 cm)Width: 33 in (83.82 cm)Depth: 36 in (91.44 cm)Seat Height: 17 in (43.18 cm)
- Style:Scandinavian Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. please note this is the original fabric some wear and light fade , over all good original condition Sold AS/IS condition.
- Seller Location:San Diego, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU93666289753
Folke Ohlsson
Folke Ohlsson pioneered the “knock-down” revolution of furniture, making the innovative flat-pack means of manufacturing and shipping common practice. Credited with playing a significant part in bringing Scandinavian modern forms to the United States, he was an international designer who created attractive pieces that are highly coveted by today’s collectors.
In Sweden, Studio Ljungs Industrier AB is the large family-owned parent company of Duxiana (in America, DUX). While leading the design team for Studio Ljungs Industrier in his native Malmö, Ohlsson visited the West Coast of the United States in 1950 and opened DUX Inc., to expand the company’s global footprint. DUX put into practice an idea that Ohlsson patented for the so-called “knock-down,” or “KD,” chair, a term referencing easy, flat-pack assembly. It saved DUX space in warehouses and money on transportation and was a concept that would inspire hundreds of subsequent companies — most notably fellow Swedish brand IKEA.
Integrating American upholstery with Swedish knock-down hardware and wooden frames, Ohlsson and DUX revolutionized the furniture industry. The manufacturer consistently worked with brilliant mid-century modern designers — among them Bruno Mathsson, Edward Wormley and Alf Svensson — expanding the brand’s portfolio and establishing credibility as a design source. Today vintage DUX sofas and dining chairs are valuable collector’s items, and the space-saving attributes and efficiency associated with the company’s modular designs continue to influence manufacturers all over the world.
Partly because of the affordability of DUX’s furniture — as well as an understandable affinity for the simplicity, warmth and coziness of Scandinavian modern design — postwar America embraced Ohlsson’s vision. One of Ohlsson’s best-known designs is the Profil lounge chair, built on a teak frame that can rock or recline with the push of a lever, while the wool bouclé upholstery is sumptuous and stylish. Another iconic collection is the clean, minimal Pasadena set of sofas, footstools and armchairs, fashioned from solid walnut with brass sabots.
The Milano Triennale and the “Good Design” exhibition series at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art distinguished Ohlsson with more than 30 awards. In 1964, he was honored with Sweden’s Royal Order of Vasa decoration by King Gustav VI Adolf because of his role in exporting modern Scandinavian aesthetics to America. Ohlsson’s designs were also produced by Bodafors and Fritz Hansen.
On 1stDibs, find a selection of Folke Ohlsson seating, tables, case pieces and storage cabinets.
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.
- Danish Modern rare Series 7 Chair by Arne Jacobsen 1st Ed. Teak Fritz HansenBy Fritz Hansen, Arne JacobsenLocated in San Diego, CABeautiful and rare 1st edition series 7 chair designed by Arne Jacobsen, for Fritz Hansen early production made for the Danish Market metal cap impressed with the FH logo and Danmark...Category
20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsChrome
$700 Sale Price20% Off - Rare Paolo Piva Lounge Chair for Giovannetti 1979, ItalyBy Afra & Tobia Scarpa, Paolo Piva, Giovannetti, B&B Italia, CassinaLocated in San Diego, CAIncredibly rare Lounge Chair designed by Paolo Piva for Giovanetti, Italy in 1979. This is a vintage Lounge Chair that has been professionally restored, upholstered with the finest...Category
20th Century Italian Post-Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery
$2,200 Sale Price20% Off - Mario Botta "Obliqua" Lounge Chair Rare Original Fabric Alias, 1983By Mario Botta, Afra & Tobia Scarpa, Alias, Mario BelliniLocated in San Diego, CAThe Elusive "Obliqua" Lounge Chair designed by Mario Botta for Alias Italy 1983. Formed to represent an inclined plane in space, ready to envelop the curious observer yet still maintaining an independent existence. The seating area has an ingenious design that inclines when applying pressure which makes it extremely comfortable as well. Fabric is original and shows wear, patina as pictured. Seating mechanism is in excellent condition. This rare fabric...Category
20th Century Italian Post-Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Wood
$7,600 Sale Price20% Off - Danish Modern Series 7 Chair by Arne Jacobsen Dark Teak Fritz HansenBy Fritz Hansen, Arne JacobsenLocated in San Diego, CABeautiful series 7 chair designed by Arne Jacobsen, for Fritz Hansen in very nice and clean condition. nice dark teak finish very clean solid and sturdy. Comes with its original plas...Category
20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsChrome
$420 Sale Price20% Off - Allan Gould Rare Pair Wood and String Lounge Chairs Circa 1952By Walter Lamb, Poul Kjærholm, Allan GouldLocated in San Diego, CAA rare pair of lounge chair designed by Allan Gould, circa 1952. Featuring a painted black birch frame with string seat and back. An interesting combination of materials represe...Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsString, Wood, Birch
$5,200 Sale Price20% Off - Art Deco Aluminum and Leather Lounge Chair by Warren McArthurBy Warren McArthurLocated in San Diego, CAArt Deco aluminum and black leather lounge chair with hockey puck feet by Warren McArthur, circa 1930s. The chair frame and feet are in great original condition while the upholstery has been recently replaced with gorgeous black leather. What a looker! The chair measures 25.75"W x 32"D x 31.5"H with a seat height of 16". This is a very rare and hard to find chair and would be the focal point of any art deco or machine age room! Check out our period side tables that would look fabulous with this chair! #3094 Warren McArthur (1885–1961) was an American industrial and furniture designer who specialized in aluminum tubular furniture during the 1930s. Warren McArthur, Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois to Warren McArthur, Sr., a successful businessman, and Minnie Jewel McArthur. Frank Lloyd Wright was a friend of the McArthur family. In 1892, Wright designed the house for the McArthur family, located in Chicago. McArthur attended Cornell University where he studied engineering. In the late 1920s, McArthur began his career as an industrial designer by creating furniture for the Arizona Biltmore Hotel, which was designed by his brother Albert Chase McArthur. After the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the Arizona Biltmore failed, and McArthur moved to Los Angeles, California to create a furniture fabrication company. In the early 1930s, aluminum became a popular industrial design material, and McArthur developed a specialization in designing and making aluminum tubular furniture, including chairs, tables, sofas, lamps, and ashtrays. McArthur soon began to receive commissions from prominent architects. Paul R. Williams commissioned McArthur to design 30 pieces of aluminum furniture for the Cord family who owned the Cord automobile company. He was also commissioned to make aluminum furniture for Rudolph Schindler's design for Sardi's restaurant location in Los Angeles. So too, McArthur's aluminum furniture was popular with Hollywood stars and producers of the 1930s. His clients included Jack L. Warner, Marlene Dietrich, Fredric March...Category
Early 20th Century American Art Deco Lounge Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
$4,760 Sale Price20% Off
- Folke Ohlsson for Fritz Hansen Lounge Chair in White UpholsteryBy Folke Ohlsson, Fritz HansenLocated in Waalwijk, NLFolke Ohlsson for Fritz Hansen, lounge chair, model '4410', fabric, teak, Denmark, design in 1957 Armchair by Folke Ohlsson made in Denmark in the 1950s. This high quality lounge ch...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Teak
- Folke Ohlsson for Fritz Hansen MCM Lounge Chair in Green Upholstery, a PairBy Folke Ohlsson, Fritz HansenLocated in Plainview, NYA pair of Mid-Century Modern lounge or easy chairs designed by Folke Ohlsson (Sweden, 1919-2003) for Fritz Hansen ( established - Denmark 1872 by Cabinet Maker Fritz Hansen). These conformable and fine lounge chairs model 0863 were crafted and designed in Denmark in 1957. Made of beach wood, the stylish chairs feature a green upholstery, clean lines and distinctly tapered legs. The wing-shaped armrests add comfort and elegance to the MCM chairs...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Beech
$8,625 Sale Price / set25% Off - Folke Ohlsson for Fritz Hansen Lounge Chair in Bicolored FabricBy Folke Ohlsson, Fritz HansenLocated in Waalwijk, NLFolke Ohlsson for Fritz Hansen, lounge chair, fabric, wood, Denmark, circa 1960. This chair by Folke Ohlsson for Fritz Hansen is made t...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Wood
- Folke Ohlsson for Fritz Hansen Lounge Chair in Black LeatherBy Folke Ohlsson, Fritz HansenLocated in Waalwijk, NLFolke Ohlsson for Fritz Hansen, lounge chair model ‘4410’, leather, beech, Denmark, design 1957 This high quality lounge chair is characterized by a stylish timeless design based on...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBeech, Leather
- Folke Ohlsson for Fritz Hansen Lounge Chairs in Black LeatherBy Folke Ohlsson, Fritz HansenLocated in Waalwijk, NLFolke Ohlsson for Fritz Hansen, easy chairs, model '4410', patinated leather, beech, Denmark, designed in 1957 These high quality lounge chairs are characterized by a stylish timele...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Beech
- Lounge Chair and Ottoman, Model 4410, by Folke Ohlsson for Fritz HansenBy Folke Ohlsson, Fritz HansenLocated in Dorchester, MASwedish designer Folke Ohlsson produced this striking lounge chair, model 4410, and ottoman for Danish manufacturer Fritz Hansen in 1957. The chair's wide angular frame creates a dee...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Beech