Portex Side Table by Hvidt & Mølgaard-Nielsen for Fritz Hansen, Denmark, 1950s
View Similar Items
Portex Side Table by Hvidt & Mølgaard-Nielsen for Fritz Hansen, Denmark, 1950s
About the Item
- Creator:Fritz Hansen (Cabinetmaker)
- Dimensions:Height: 17.33 in (44 cm)Width: 15.75 in (40 cm)Length: 17.33 in (44 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Berkhamsted, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU3990118040071
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.
- AX Table Hvidt & Mølgaard Denmark, 1950sBy Fritz Hansen, Peter Hvidt, Orla Mølgaard-NielsenLocated in London, GBAn 'AX' table designed by Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen. This table was made during the 1950s for Fritz Hansen. Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen designed their 'AX' collec...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsBeech, Teak
- 1950's Side Table by Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard-NielsenBy Fritz Hansen, Peter Hvidt, Orla Mølgaard-NielsenLocated 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
- Vintage Danish Teak Side Table, Engholm & Willumsen For Fritz Hansen, 1950sBy Fritz Hansen, Willumsen & EngholmLocated in London, GBAn elegant Danish mid century side table which doubles as a serving tray. The circular teak tray curves up at the edges for practicality but retains a delicate refined design, sittin...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsTeak
- 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
- Danish Modern Teak Side Table by Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard-NielsenBy John Stuart, Peter HvidtLocated in Brooklyn, NYElegant, Mid-Century Modern, teak, side table by Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen sold by John Stuart features sleigh legs that are interesting from all angles. Two tables are ava...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsTeak
- 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