The Mid-Century/Danish thread

[Sam Cogley]

This Eames is in surprisingly good condition and has few issues with the veneer on either the chair or ottoman. Some minor scratches & scrapes but that is about it. The one big problem is that it broke at the rubber hinge points. This is a common problem with this chair. Someone would lean back putting great force on the chair back and the wood that the mounts were attached to would splinter, usually catastrophically. This renders the chair useless and very expensive to fix.

I got lucky. Not only is this one rosewood (not used since (the early 80's?) when it became protected), the glue let go at the mounts themselves saving the wood from splintering. (Repro mounts are available too @ $50/pair.) I have not go forward with the fix yet because in pieces it is easier to store. It's in queue for this winter however. I did clean-up the ottoman and it has been in use since I got it. The veneer positively drank in furniture oil and the rosewood is beautiful. I was not sure about the leather and whether or not it would come back but after a couple of applications of saddle soap it is like butter and shiny. I'll post a shot of it over the weekend. The chair should clean up in a similar fashion.

Here it the set right after I got them from the dump. The chair back is not yellow as it appears in the picture but looks just like the wood in the last shot with the label.

Did you ever repair the chair?

That was a seriously good deal on that desk. I like it better than much of the more recognized designs. I mean..somebody had to design it, right? Who cares what their name was as long as it looks like that.

It turns out to be A much better deal than anyone expected. The cheapest price I've found online at the galleries is $1800 - and that one sold.

Sam...I found some info on your desk. I stumbled across it while trying to think of decoration ideas for my new apt.

http://www.deconet.com/decopedia/object/7810/Writing_desk_by_Peter_Løvig_Nielsen

and also about 1/2 down this page:

http://www.midcenturymodernist.com/page/4/

I owe you a cookie and a gold star - I finally found the Lovig mark today!

 

[the-real-mandak]

I totally dig that coffee table. :yes: :thmbsp: :yes:

thx, it's designed by Johannes Andersen in 1957. He did some cool stuff but is not that well known in the greater public.

here is a link to some of the other stuff he did: http://www.deconet.com/decopedia/object/2845/Smile_table_by_Johannes_Andersen

BTW. decopedia is a great place to get info on scandinavian furniture.

 

[the-real-mandak]

A few more, here the kitchen setup.

 

[Sam Cogley]

I picked up something at an estate sale yesterday that is the perfect accessory for the mid-century home - a 1949 Electrolux XXX canister vaccuum in perfect working order, clean as a whistle, and with almost all of the original metal accessories. The only missing piece I've found so far is the crevice tool, though a later plastic one is in the box. Total damage - $10.

 

[the-real-mandak]

cool, designer Lurelle Guild.
: http://www.137.com/museum/electrolux.htm

 

[Sam Cogley]

cool, designer Lurelle Guild.
: http://www.137.com/museum/electrolux.htm

And tweaked by Raymond Lowey around 1948.

This one is the spitting image of mine, down to the new-for-1949 accessory caddy clipped to the handle. The only difference is that mine has the 1949 redesign of the motor housing.

Electrolux made them officially until 1954, "unofficially" (not catalog listed) until the mid-60s, and was selling factory rebuilds as late as 1988. Mine has as much or more suction than my three-year-old vacuum and it's at least 59 years old!

In addition to the crevice tool, mine is also missing the sprayer attachment from the standard accessory package.

 

[the-real-mandak]

Mine has as much or more suction than my three-year-old vacuum and it's at least 59 years old!

LOL I have something a lot like it with my old Nilfisk, It puts oure new Mile to shame. When we where fixing the the walls in oure new apartment, the workers used it to clean all the dust after sanding the walls - to my horror without using a bag! I cleaned the inside with another vacum cleaner, put it back together and it was running like it alwayes had done no problems.

The model is from 1958 and was redesigned a few times but basically it's the same machine, last it was redesigned I think was in the 80's and they are still selling it. Now under the name Nilfisk GM80 Museum (or Classic). An interesting side story is that NASA was using it to remove dust from the space shuttles.

The pic is of the 1958 G70 model IIRC, my model is from the 60's or 70's.

 

[kangatoy]

thx, it's designed by Johannes Andersen in 1957. He did some cool stuff but is not that well known in the greater public.

here is a link to some of the other stuff he did: http://www.deconet.com/decopedia/object/2845/Smile_table_by_Johannes_Andersen

BTW. decopedia is a great place to get info on scandinavian furniture.

I too love that coffee table. I have seen two examples of it here in Los Angeles, both were being unloaded from shipping containers of vintage furniture from Denmark which a friend was importing, I would have snagged one if I didn't already have anothee cool Danish coffee table. I don't think that it was originally available here in the US. Some examples might have come over with GIs stationed in Europe .

I have an unusual Danish coffee table (sorry no pixs at this time) which I use with the Hvidt and Molgaard sofa. The Danish did not use "TV trays" like we did here in he 50's and 60's. Instead they had "Elevator" coffee tables. The table top can be raised up and it has leaves that pull out to make it serve as a dining table in front of the low sofas. For large family gatherings we use the sofa and some Danish foot stools as chairs around the coffee table.

Another great site for looking up true Danish Modern furniture design is Furnitureindex.dk. You can search by item type or designer.

 

[the-real-mandak]

After the 2. world war many Danish designers grouped together and started making designs directly aimed at export to mainly the US and Germany, those designs where only sold in small numbers here in Denmark. So there is quite a few designs made by Danish designers but build by US manufactures in the US. Johannes Andersen was designing series for the German market witch might explain GI's bringing them to the US.

The elevator tables is not a common thing here in Denmark, I really don’t recall any who had such a table. An often used dining setup would be a table where you can pull out the ends and insert an extra wooden plate, that way it is possible to almost double the size of the table when having guests. But the change is only horizontal not vertical. I have an example of this designed by Hans J Wegner, he did it in a little more elegant way where the extra plates are stored under the main table plate.

http://www.deconet.com/decopedia/object/3205/AT412_by_Hans_J_Wegner

I use the table with Wegners CH29

 

[kangatoy]

After the 2. world war many Danish designers grouped together and started making designs directly aimed at export to mainly the US and Germany, those designs where only sold in small numbers here in Denmark. So there is quite a few designs made by Danish designers but build by US manufactures in the US. Johannes Andersen was designing series for the German market witch might explain GI's bringing them to the US.

The elevator tables is not a common thing here in Denmark, I really don’t recall any who had such a table. An often used dining setup would be a table where you can pull out the ends and insert an extra wooden plate, that way it is possible to almost double the size of the table when having guests. But the change is only horizontal not vertical. I have an example of this designed by Hans J Wegner, he did it in a little more elegant way where the extra plates are stored under the main table plate.

http://www.deconet.com/decopedia/object/3205/AT412_by_Hans_J_Wegner

I use the table with Wegners CH29

Hi Mandak,
I purchased the coffee table from a Danish friend who was doing the importing. She had told me that they were common in the 60's. I have seen quite a few examples of them. They do change height and do have leaves that pull out to enlarge them, but the leaves run lengthwise with the coffee table and make the normally narrow table wider for use. I have seen examples in solid teak, oak and teak combination, and mine is dark teak with a lower shelf of woven caning. I'm not sure who the designer of mine is, my friend thought it might be Wegner, but who knows. (She knows a lot about the Modern Danish designers and designs, her uncle is Neils O..
. Moeller, she is friends with Wegner's daughter and in the 60's she was Quistgaard's live in nanny). I only wish the exchange rate would improve for the dollar so that she would import some more fun furniture. Although i think I have too much already.

 

[sheltie dave]

I was minding my business when Sam gave me a ring, telling me to look at the Herman Miller chairs that just popped up on CL in town. I called the seller, but he seemed a little flakey, noting the garage sale was from 2 to 4 pm, no one could be early, and he wouldn't guarantee holding the two desired chairs for me for even five minutes.

In St. Louis that normally means they want a guarantee of bidding for the desirable items, they may open early, but they aren't about to reveal their true intentions if it means less money at the receiving end.

I grabbed our seven year old, and headed out for what hopefully would be a rewarding excursion. We arrived at the house half an hour early, and after sitting outside for ten minutes, I called the seller and chatted again, noting we were just outside. They opened the door, let us in, and we gave them $200 for these two delightfully well preserved HM Executive aluminum group armchairs in cobalt. Yum Yum, saved us $250 by now not needing to purchase a new RAR rocker from Design Within Reach.

And Sam, how's this HeyWake? You wanna :thmbsp:

 

[Sam Cogley]

I do sometimes make myself useful.

Decisions, decisions...yeah, I'll probably find a spot for it.

 

[Switchblade]

.......and for your back yard, this Danish item from mid 19th century. It can be yours for $4057.00 U.S. dollars. Pedestal is extra.

 

[treserious]

I just picked up two aluminum group chairs for a nice price.

picked up this management chair

and a lounge chair like this one in a perrywinkle blue

both aren't in mint condition, but, I got them for about a fifth the going used market price.

the lounger is an original one with the 4 leg base,
and the management has the 5 leg base, but no piston.
its a mid eighties version.
I would have preferred the clear coat aluminum finish over the black, but I couldn't pass up such a deal.

 

[orionkc]

Are speakers Mid-Century?....My 1958 Frazier Manhattans. :scratch2:

 

[the-real-mandak]

Well B&O are properly the only audio company claming that there stuff is like furniture, but they sure are nice and clean.

Since we are at the side stuff, here is one of my daughters toys designed by Kaj Bojesen 1951.

 

[soundmotor]

Since we are at the side stuff, here is one of my daughters toys designed by Kaj Bojesen 1951.

Wow, my sister had one of those. I had not though about since I was a little kid. Casualty of one of my mother's cleaning & give-away fits no doubt

 

[soundmotor]

Did you ever repair the chair?

No because right now it is easier to store in two pieces. The ottoman however has been in daily use since about a week after I got it. This summer our downstairs is getting remodeled and the chair is one of the stars.

 

[the-real-mandak]

Wow, my sister had one of those. I had not though about since I was a little kid. Casualty of one of my mother's cleaning & give-away fits no doubt

Bojesen would be happy about this, it propperly means that some kid got to play with it, too manny of his toyes has become closed land for kids.

 

[Sam Cogley]

Well B&O are properly the only audio company claming that there stuff is like furniture, but they sure are nice and clean.

Since we are at the side stuff, here is one of my daughters toys designed by Kaj Bojesen 1951.

If they haven't already been pictured in this thread, I have a German-language set of the Eames "House of Cards." Unfortunately two of the cards have ends torn off.

Love that monkey - I think I might have had one, or a knockoff, when I was a kid.