Vintage Danish Modern Furniture

History

There's no solid rule about when vintage furniture turns into antique furniture, but with Danish modern furniture, usually Arts and Crafts and art deco furniture through the 1970s or so is considered vintage.

While the concept of Scandinavian design emerged in the 1950s, it was more the addition of the ideology of beauty as compatible with mass production, functionality, and the deliberate incorporation of low cost materials that distinguished it as a separate movement than any revolutionary aesthetic change. The emphasis on unornamented geometric shapes and simple but harmonious design follows the visual ideals of the Arts and Crafts era and remains faithful to those ideas even today. The designers of the 1950s believed, as did those of the Arts and Crafts movement, that beautiful items should be available to buyers of every income. Unlike makers of Arts and Crafts, Shaker style, and Mission Style furniture, these embraced mass production and manufacturing advances such as pressed wood, molded plastic, and laminates to achieve that goal.

Materials Used in Vintage Danish Modern Furniture

Wood

Some of the most popular vintage Danish modern furniture is made from light colored woods either native to Scandinavia or regularly imported.

• Teak. Teak wood is usually a medium dark honey color with a straight, medium-width grain, but can be stained much darker or bleached much lighter. Because of its durability, it is one of the most popular woods for outdoor as well as indoor furnishings.
• Pine. Pine wood ranges in colors from quite light to medium-dark and its grain ranges from narrow to quite wide, often with knots. It's a fairly soft wood
• Beech. Beech wood is usually quite light with a subtle grain. Its slightly golden hue is very popular.
• Ash. Ash wood usually has a pronounced grain and often has a hint of a grey undertone.

Of course, a good deal of vintage Danish wooden furniture is made of pressed or laminated wood, but these are still the most popular finishes, though darker, less traditional finishes like cherry and even mahogany are available.

Because technological advances in the 1950s allowed wood to be bent and shaped in ways not possible before, one hallmark of vintage Scandinavian design is the chair with the back and seat made out of one piece of curved, pressed wood. These usually have wonderfully fluid shapes with a deceptive simplicity.

Some Scandinavian and Danish wooden furniture is painted, usually in white, subtle shades of yellow or green, or shades of blue ranging from very light blue to slate. These colors, which create an impression of light and evoke the blue sky or spring foliage, doubtless became popular in Scandinavia because they could alleviate the darkness of long winter nights and look cool and fresh during the famous midnight sun summers. This is most common in antique tables, sideboards, and bureaus, but you can still find painted vintage modern Danish furniture.

Leather and “Industrial” Materials

Art deco was a major influence on modern Scandinavian designers, particularly in their use of materials such as steel, chrome, aluminum, leather, and glass. These are still very popular today.

Casual chairs and sofas usually have much more organic, often playful shapes, than the rather strict geometrics preferred for beds, dining chairs, tables, and cabinets. The furniture is contoured to the human body and invites lounging. Like the pressed wood chairs mentioned above, some of these have very fluid lines like the famous swan chair in the photograph, while others combine shapes such as a rounded seat and back for a chair with a triangular base. The colors, too, tend to be more vibrant, usually primaries such as red, yellow, and blue.

Sources

In addition to the standard antique stores where you're more likely to find older or higher-end pieces, and solid woods, be sure to check second-hand furniture shops, where you can often find used Danish or at least Danish-style furniture at exceptionally good prices.

While shipping can be tremendously expensive, you can find vintage and antique Danish furniture online at:

• Avolli (United States)
• Country Gallery Antiques of Vermont (United States)
• Denmark 50 (United States)

You can also get reproductions or pieces styled upon vintage furniture at:

• dkVogue (United States)
• Wharfside (England)