Unique Danish Prototype Lounge Chair by Steen Ostergaard

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Unique Danish Prototype Lounge Chair by Steen Ostergaard

About the Item

The President lounge chair by Steen Ostergaard 1967. Steen Østergaard, award winning Industrial designer from the golden age of danish contemporary modern era, has won numerous prizes and his chairs are displayed all-over the world in various museums. Steen Østergaard designed this beautiful molded President Lounge Chair 265 by developing 50 prototypes. The prototypes where all made of fiberglass. The 265 President Lounge Chair is considered the crown jewel of the A-line series which also includes the 290 and 291 A-line chair. At the time the 265 President lounge chair was the largest "one piece" fiberglass molded chair the world had ever seen. The model is a very sought after design piece and due to the uniqueness of this particular prototype makes it a real collectors item. We got the unique opportunity to visit Steen Østergaard in his home in Denmark, where he has moved to after spending 35 years working on his designs abroad. After having met Steen Østergaard he verified that this particular chair is the last remaining prototype in the world. The other 49 models were destroyed and this one got rescued by Heinz Fahrenholz (factory manager of Poul Cadovius company Abstracta where the chair was developed). He was so amazed by Steen Østergaards design that he had to keep it. The chair got sold by Fahrenholz´s family to a local dealer where we found it. It was in a poor condition after having spent 45 years as a garden lounge chair during summertime. The chair has no stamped factory label (production models where stamped Cado for Poul Cadovius, Denmark). This is indeed the grand-father of the President lounge chair 265. It has been fully restored to a mint condition: 32 hours of professional sanding and paint job (six layers of Alfa Romero racing yellow paint). Four weeks for the upholstery (orange anilin genuine leather). The upholster reconstructed a template and cushions are handmade by directions from Steen Østergaard. Steen Østergaard has approved the authenticity and was very pleased by the outcome of the restoration. He ended up signing the chair (see picture where the signature is on the lower part of the base) as well as he signed the pictures taken from the restoration project. All picture documentation will follow the chair. Three special signed pictures are signed and professional framed. Steen Østergaard´s words "It would please me if my chairs where made with these colors." .

Creator:
Poul Cadovius (Manufacturer),Ostergaard Steen (Designer),Abstracta (Manufacturer)
Dimensions:
Height: 33.86 in (86 cm)Width: 34.65 in (88 cm)Depth: 38.59 in (98 cm)Seat Height: 13.39 in (34 cm)
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Fiberglass,Leather
Place of Origin:
Denmark
Period:
1960-1969
Date of Manufacture:
1967
Condition:
Mint condition. Never been used since restoration ended.
Seller Location:
Haderslev, DK
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU194835278223

Shop All Poul Cadovius

Poul Cadovius

While Poul Cadovius is most famous for his modular floating shelving system, his career in design didn’t actually start with wall units.

Born just outside of Copenhagen in 1911, Cadovius began manufacturing window treatments in the 1940s with his partner, Hother Brønner. He soon turned his focus from venetian blinds to furniture, finding success designing svelte pieces in teak, a richly colored hardwood favored by the Danish mid-century modernists.

In 1945, Cadovius founded the furniture manufacturer Royal System with his designs, including the 1948 Royal System shelving unit, a space-saving solution that underscored Cadovius’s penchant for problem-solving in a multifunctional way. Rather than balance shelves on wooden or metal legs, it held them to the wall with brackets. He followed it with the System Ultra in 1957, the System Cado in 1960 and the System Abstracta, which was installed throughout the exhibition halls of the 1962 Cologne Furniture Fair. All expanded on his idea of wall-mounted shelving that saved space while offering functionality, allowing for limitless combinations of storage, shelves, work surfaces and other units. The Royal System proved to be especially popular and is still produced by Danish furniture brand dk3 today, with early models continuing to be in demand.

Along with the shelving systems, Cadovius designed everything from lounge chairs to mushroom-shaped bus shelters, and he held over 400 patents. In addition to being a designer, he was also an entrepreneur with an eye for opportunity, such as purchasing Danish manufacturer France & Søn in the mid-1960s and folded it into CADO, a company he founded years earlier. He used this as an occasion to experiment with his designs, conceiving such unusual pieces as an aluminum-based dining table topped with rosewood and hand-painted by artist Susan Fjedldoe Mygge.

Cadovius’s innovations in shelving continued throughout his career, with examples like the sculptural Butterfly shelf and vertical pieces mixing shelving and storage. In 2018, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Royal System, dk3 reissued the celebrated shelving system as well as a more compact version reimagined for 21st-century homes.

Find a collection of vintage Poul Cadovius storage cabinets, seating and other furniture on 1stDibs.