Description
This ultra cool Danish desk chair, designed by Kai Kristiansen, echoes his classic ‘Paper Knife’ range, with sweeping arms, detailed jointing work and beautifully figured wood. This design also offers a practical benefit as the taper of the arms allows them to be pushed under most desks to save space. Perfect for your lounge, office, hallway, study or bedroom, this piece combines stunning mid century looks with fantastic design and comfort.
The real focus of Danish design, the object that had the longest-lasting influence, was the chair. Cabinet pieces were important, but the chair was the fundamental form. A chair is the hardest thing to design because it’s got to be comfortable even though people are made in all different sizes, shapes, and forms. What’s comfortable to one person may not be comfortable to another, but there are some defining proportions that help to determine whether it’s comfortable or not.
The physics of the chair are also important because if you don’t get it right, the thing can collapse on you. In fact Mies van der Rohe once said that designing a chair was much more difficult than designing a skyscraper. That’s got to be somewhat of an exaggeration, but the important thing is it’s a much more technical subject than we might realise.
Kai Kristiansen is one of the most innovative and talented Danish designers of the mid 20th century. Kristiansen was born in 1929 and trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. His mentor was the famed father of modern Danish furniture design Kaare Klint. Kristiansen excelled as a cabinetmaker and in 1955 set up his own design workshop. His talent was quickly recognised by some of Denmarks finest cabinet makers and the result is some of the most stunning furniture produced during the mid century era. Kristiansen was a multi faceted designer who was comfortable designing a range of furniture. His work is defined by clean lines and a perfect balance of form and function. He designed some of the most desirable lounge, dining and office furniture of the day in luxurious teak and rosewood. As an avid supporter of furniture design, Kristiansen also organised many of the large furniture fairs in Denmark during the 1960s. Today his designs are some of the most highly coveted examples of the mid century furniture to emerge from Denmark.
There is a repair to the inside of one of the rear legs that is clearly visible (see photo). This doesn’t detract from the chair’s stunning good looks and condition, otherwise, is very nice.
Height 80cm