AX Table Hvidt & Mølgaard Denmark, 1950s
About the Item
- Creator:
- Dimensions:Height: 22.05 in (56 cm)Width: 36.03 in (91.5 cm)Depth: 18.9 in (48 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU891038725342
Peter Hvidt
One half of the influential Danish furniture duo Hvidt and Mølgaard, architect and designer Peter Hvidt created shapely works in teak and rosewood that could be mass-produced and transported at a scale rarely seen before his time. Alongside his business partner, Aalborg-born designer Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen, the pair crafted furniture which stands today as a masterclass in the combination of elegance and practicality that is typical of Scandinavian modernism.
Hvidt was born in Copenhagen in 1916. He studied architecture and cabinetry, and graduated from the School of Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen. Hvidt established his own design firm in 1940 and taught for three years at his former school, during which he designed the teak Portex chair — Denmark’s first stacking chair (this design has alternatively been attributed to Hvidt’s partnership with Mølgaard-Nielsen over the years).
The exceptional collaboration between Hvidt and Mølgaard-Nielsen took shape in 1944. A student of pioneering Danish modernist designer and architect Kaare Klint and fellow graduate of the School of Arts and Crafts, Mølgaard brought his technical prowess and eye for practical design to the partnership. Together, for more than three decades, Hvidt and Mølgaard would produce over 250 furniture designs, a legacy that included the iconic AX chair.
A masterpiece of technical expertise and innovative woodworking, the sculptural AX armchair was designed in collaboration with manufacturer Fritz Hansen during the late 1940s. It features double-curved laminated wood in the seat and back, 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. The AX went into production in 1950 and eventually gave way to a series that featured tables and other seating.
Hvidt’s proclivity for forward-looking design was typical of the venturesome furniture makers of the mid-century modern era. This extended to textures and materials, too — he believed that a tasteful combination of materials could add character and visual intrigue. With Mølgaard-Nielsen, Hvidt designed streamlined coffee tables, rosewood chairs upholstered with sumptuous black leather and teak side tables with cane shelves (teak was a sought-after material for designers at the time).
The duo’s work with celebrated manufacturers Fritz Hansen, France & Søn and Søborg Møbelfabrik has been a part of exhibitions at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen’s Design Museum and the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.
On 1stDibs, find vintage Peter Hvidt seating, tables and case pieces.
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: London, United Kingdom
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Danish Sofa, 1950sLocated in London, GBA welcoming four-seater sofa, likely to have been made in Denmark during the late 1940s or early 1950s. This long, yet deceptively slim, sofa has recently been reupholstered in sof...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsLinen, Beech
- Circular Teak Mirror, Denmark, 1950sLocated in London, GBA circular teak wall mirror, made in Denmark during the 1950s. The slim, circular teak frame of this mid-century wall mirror would make a subtle statement in any space. A mirror lar...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsMirror, Teak
- Carl Auböck II Woven Wicker Long Rectangular Table, circa 1950By Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in London, GBA long rectangular table designed and made by Carl Auböck II, Vienna, Austria, circa 1950. The table's frame is made from slender steel bar whi...Category
Mid-20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Tables
MaterialsWicker
- Carl Auböck II Vintage Woven Wicker Small Square Sized Table, circa 1950By Werkstätte Carl AuböckLocated in London, GBA small square sized table designed and made by Carl Auböck II, Vienna, Austria, circa 1950. The table's frame is made from slender steel bar which has bee...Category
Mid-20th Century Austrian Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsWicker
- Large Octagonal Teak Wall Mirror, Denmark, 1950sLocated in London, GBA wall mirror set into an octagonal teak frame, likely to have been made in Denmark during the 1950s. The rounded corners of this octagonal teak frame imbue this wall mirror with a...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsMirror, Teak
- A Pair of Pine Bedside Tables Erik Höglund for Boda TräBy Erik Höglund, BODA träLocated in London, GBA pair of pine bedside tables designed by Eric Höglund for Boda Trä and likely to have been manufactured during the 1960s-1970s. The pair were once part of a larger suite of bedroom...Category
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsPine
- 1950's Side Table by Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard-NielsenBy Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen, Peter Hvidt, Fritz HansenLocated in Brooklyn, NYBeautiful and rare 1950's side table by Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen for Fritz Hansen. It was part of the AX series designed by the two designers for FH and it contained table...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Side Tables
MaterialsBeech, Teak
- Danish Midcentury Side Table "Minerva" by Hvidt & Mølgaard for France & SonBy France & Søn, Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen, Peter HvidtLocated in Göteborg, SESide table "Minerva" in teak and rattan by Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard Nielsen for France & Son, Denmark. Measure; Height 64 Width 76 Depth 76 cm The table ...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsRattan, Teak
- 1950s Mølgaard & Hvidt AX Coffee Table Teak and Beech for Fritz Hansen, DenmarkBy Hvidt & Mølgaard, Fritz HansenLocated in Aarhus C, DKVintage AX coffee table by the Danish architects Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard. The table is made in the 1950s of teak with inlaid beech wood and rema...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBeech, Teak
- Teak side table by Peter Hvidt & Orla Molgaard-NielsenBy Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen, Peter HvidtLocated in PARIS, FRTable by designers Peter Hvidt & Orla Molgaard Nielsen for France & Søn, 1960s. It has two teak tops, one of which is asymmetrical. Ideal as a side table or occasional table at the c...Category
Mid-20th Century Side Tables
MaterialsTeak
- Peter Hvidt & Orla Molgaard Nielsen AX Series Side TablesBy Hvidt & MølgaardLocated in San Francisco, CAPeter Hvidt & Orla Molgaard Nielsen AX series side tables. A rare pair of side tables in teak and beech form the AX series for Fritz Hansen. Denmark, circa 1950s.Category
20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Side Tables
MaterialsBeech, Teak
- Danish Modern Teak Side Table by Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard-NielsenBy John Stuart, Peter HvidtLocated in Brooklyn, NYElegant, Mid-Century Modern, dark teak, side table by Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen sold by John Stuart features sleigh legs that are interesting from all angles. Two tables ar...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsTeak