Pair of Mid-Century Selig Lounge Chairs with Sleigh Legs by Ib Kofod-Larsen
A pair of vintage walnut lounge chairs designed by Ib Kofod-Larsen, made in Denmark, imported by Selig and offered by Snowdrift Antiques.
The Selig Furniture Company was founded in 1931 in Gardner, Massachusetts by Mendell Selig and Sam Wexler. By the 1950s Selig had become the America’s leading producer and importer of contemporary furniture. Selig particularly focused on importing high end designs from Denmark and Sweden. In fact, Selig was most responsible for introducing and popularizing the modern interior style that became so prevalent in the United States in post-war era. In the 1970s Selig was purchased by the Simmons mattress company.
Selig chairs in general feature elegant and graceful, classic mid-century lines that epitomize the Danish modern look. These chairs were designed by Danish architect/furniture designer Ib Kofod-Larsen (1921-2003). A large part of his vast furniture catalogue was designed for the non-Danish market and manufactured abroad. He worked especially for American, Swedish, British and German furniture companies and manufacturers. This may be the reason that his furniture has undeservedly become better known internationally than in his home country of Denmark. Today he is called one of the most underrated – but most exciting – names on the Danish design scene.
This pair of walnut lounge chairs have the much harder to find sleigh legs, where the front and back legs are connected by a long runner that sits on the floor. The wood is walnut and stained in a medium brown color. Each chair has its red enamel, Selig button on the front right corner of the chair seat. The chairs have a tilted back with rounded square cutouts. The arms widen gracefully toward the front for comfort. This pair is almost certainly from the mid to late 1950s.
This elegant pair have been outfitted with new Fagas straps in the seat base for support. The originals were dried and worn. They have new high density foam on the seats that makes them a dream to sit in. They also have been professionally re-covered with a beautiful Knoll fabric with mid-century style. The fabric is from Knoll’s DIVA line and is called “Lagoon”. The cerulean blue fabric is textural and rich with its multi-colored and tonal yarns.
The footprint of a chair measures 27 ½ inches wide by 27 deep by 28 high in back.
This pair is in excellent vintage condition. They were lightly oiled to relive them from the Colorado dryness. There is a small, minor nick on the right arm on one of the chairs. You can see it up close image 12 and from a further distance in image 13. They have been well taken care of and have much less than normal wear for their age.
This is a beautiful pair of Selig chairs with so much mid-century style. Their new seat straps, cushions and fabric make them like new while retaining all of the classic vintage quality.