Borge Mogensen Spanish Dining Chair, Model 3237, Cognac

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About the Item

The Spanish dining chair is a testament to the application of honest materials. Crafted from the finest selection of oak and flawless saddle leather, the chair is available with or without armrests, and with multiple finishes from light to darker shades, depending on the atmosphere you want to create.Creator: Fredericia (Manufacturer),Brge Mogensen (Designer)Design: Spanish ChairDimensions: Height: 33.26 in (84.49 cm)Width: 22.04 in (55.99 cm)Depth: 18.89 in (47.99 cm)Seat Height: 18.11 in (46 cm)Style: Mid-Century Modern (In the Style Of)Materials and Techniques: Oak,OtherPlace of Origin: DenmarkPeriod: 21st CenturyDate of Manufacture: ContemporaryProduction Type: New Custom(Current Production)Estimated Production Time: 8-9 weeksCondition: NewSeller Location: Berkeley, CAReference Number: 1stDibs: LU1353214563381

Spanish Chair

Designed by Brge Mogensen

Although Brge Mogensen (191472) conceived of his Spanish chair after a 1958 inspiring trip to Spain (hence its name), where the use of robust leather as a part of seat construction is integral to a national legacy of furniture making, the Danish designer had been by then long occupied with making practical and functional furniture that could be of use in ones home every day.

Mogensen studied under Kaare Klint at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and began his career as a teaching assistant to the Scandinavian design master. Not long after Mogensen participated in MoMAs famous “International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design” in 1948, he opened his own design studio.

Mogensen began to collaborate with architect Andreas Graversen, who bought the manufacturer Fredericia Furniture in 1955. Graversens acquisition launched a long tradition of producing Mogensens furniture at Fredericia, and in 1958, the manufacturer introduced the Spanish chair, which is today one of Mogensens most recognizable designs.

The Spanish chair exemplifies Mogensens proclivity toward working with simple, natural materials. The wood-and-leather sling chair also references the designers longtime fascination with Japanese woodworking and reveals his dedication to designing for ultimate comfort.

With its sturdy, unpretentious frame of solid oak and its back and seat in supple saddle leather attached with adjustable straps, the Spanish chair is indeed one of the most comfort-conscious chairs on the planet. But it cant help being beautiful, too: Contrast stitching on the leather and the juxtaposition of its smooth surface with the frames wood grain make it an unintentional statement piece. The Spanish chair is still produced by Fredericia Furniture.

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Brge Mogensen

Among the great mid-20th century Danish furniture designers, Brge Mogensen distinguished himself with his faith to traditional values of craftsmanship and honesty of materials.

While peers such as Hans Wegner, Finn Juhl and Arne Jacobsen designed some of the most striking and now iconic furnishings of the era, Mogensen focused on making chairs, sofas and other pieces that were simple, durable and comfortable and in the long run perhaps more useful and better loved.

Mogensen studied under and later worked for Kaare Klint, a master cabinetmaker whose chief tenets were quality of construction and simplicity of line. Klint was a classicist, who believed that furniture forms should evolve from those of historical models. So, too, in his way was Mogensen, as two of his best-known earlier pieces attest.

His 1945 Spokeback sofa, with hinged arms that can be lowered to facilitate lounging, is a reinterpretation of the venerable Knole settee. With the oval silhouette of its plywood backrest and waterdrop-shaped cutouts, Mogensens Shell chair, designed in 1949, can be seen as a novel take on early 19th-century Empire side chairs.

Yet Mogensen shared the aesthetical sensibilities of his most forward-looking colleagues. His cabinets deploy the same spare geometries and lushly figured woods as those of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his disciple Florence Knoll, the chief difference being that Mies and Knoll used chrome steel for the frames and legs of their pieces. The brawny oak frames and slung leather seats and backrests of Mogensens Hunting chair (1950) and Spanish chair (1958) display the same hefty construction and appreciation of natural materials seen in the work of Charlotte Perriand and Sergio Rodrigues.

Mogensen designed for function more than sculptural effect. While his chairs may not be the first pieces in a dcor to draw the eye, they are often the first to draw in those looking for a comfortable seat.

Find vintage Brge Mogensen dining tables, bookcases and other Scandinavian modern furniture for sale on 1stDibs.