Description
This table and chairs show a distinct Danish influence, typical of the period. This classic mid-century dining table extends to accommodate 6 people if required. A beautifully designed & crafted extending dining table, this vintage item has that stylish retro look to it. The table comes with 4 chairs made from solid afrormosia wood and designed by the Danish designer Ib Kofod-Larsen. The seat pads retain their original black vinyl covers.
Furniture designer Ib Kofod-Larsen was born Denmark in 1921 and studied at the Danish Royal Academy in Copenhagen. In 1948, he won the Holmegaard glass competition as well as an annual award from the Danish Cabinetmakers Guild. The latter drew the attention of Danish furniture manufacturer Faarup Møbelfabrik, and Kofod-Larsen went on to create some of his most beautiful works for the company during the 1950s. He also designed furniture for several other leading midcentury manufacturers, both at home and abroad, including Christensen & Larsen, Bovenkamp, Petersens, and Fredericia Furniture.
Kofod-Larsen frequently worked with gorgeous woods, such as teak and rosewood, as well rich leathers. Clean, sculptural lines characterize much of his work. Notable designs include the U-56 or Elizabeth Chair (1956), composed of a light teak frame and upholstered leather that was purported to have been named for England’s Queen Elizabeth II after she purchased a pair during a visit to Denmark in 1958; as well as the airy and modern Penguin chair (1953). Kofod-Larsen’s striking teak and leather-upholstered Sälen (or Seal) easy chairs for OPE (also 1950s) have become increasingly popular on the vintage market in recent years. Today, his pieces have become highly collectable, in large part due to Kofod-Larsen’s talent for honoring the innate qualities of his chosen materials.
British furniture manufacturing company GPlan was launched in 1953, but its roots go back much further. In 1898, Ebenezer Gomme (1858–1931) set up a fine woodworking atelier, E. Gomme Ltd., in High Wycombe, England, a major center of British furniture manufacturing. E. Gomme continued to flourish until the 1940s. During World War II, Britain experienced a timber shortage and the British government was forced to enact strict controls on “unnecessary” industries like furniture production. This led to a program called the Utility Scheme, which was intended to cultivate a market for more austere and utilitarian solutions to home goods.
Although most of the British public reverted to traditional tastes after the war, there was a small but growing market for high-quality, modernist furniture, and G-Plan successfully spoke to this younger, more progressive audience. Through clever marketing campaigns, G-Plan set the standard for modernist, mass-market furniture in postwar Britain. G-Plan’s C Range, with an aesthetic that celebrated its machine production, was launched in 1953, and by 1957 it had become enormously popular.
By the 1960s, the Scandinavian look was sweeping international design, and British-made furniture was being outsold by Danish imports. To compete, G-Plan brought in Danish designer Ib Kofod-Larsen to create new collections in fine woods, like teak and rosewood. While these Kofod-Larsen pieces have become very collectible today, at the time, they were not well appreciated by the design community—perhaps viewed as lesser variations on the furniture available from Scandinavia. Despite the competition, G-Plan remained one of the most recognized names in furniture manufacturing in the UK through the end of the 1970s.
Width 122cm Height 73cm (Table extends to 168cm)
