Description
Provenance and Background Info
(SOLD for $3200 for all SIX back in 2017 within 2 weeks of being listed online. These days in 2019 I’d price the exact same chairs at around $3600. They’re bloody rare!)
Description was written in 2017 so some information will be time sensitive and subject to change.
A set of SIX Danish #75 dining chairs with a Niels Moller metal plaque and a Danish Furniture Makers Guild metal plaque under every chair. Moller was one of the first in the world to start designing furniture in this style- these chairs were released in the 1950’s and have been in non-stop production ever since. New genuine Niels Moller #75 chairs are priced at AU$1060 EACH (out of America) and if you research these worldwide they’re usually AU$1000 PER CHAIR but usually more whether they be on 1st Dibs or Etsy. I’ve included a screenshot in this listing of a 1st Dibs listing selling 8 Moller chairs AU$24 122 (over AU$3000 each). Those ones are Rosewood and admittedly worth more than mine but there are virtually none around with woven wool seats (like mine)- I think mine are worth more than the majority you’ll see online because of this upholstery. Wool is very strong and the natural inherent properties of wool tend to repel stains (instead of draw the stain in) making it a sensible soft-upholstery option for dining chairs.
In a nutshell this is what you’re paying for- the very HIGHEST quality in EVERY aspect as well as one of the most iconic furniture designs of the 20th century. These are ORIGINALS with the original Niels Moller metal plaques on them. I’d say these chairs are maybe 25 years old. They are not the early ones but they do have some age to them. (I don’t think they make the wool woven seats anymore and haven’t done so for some time.) To epitomise the construction quality, the backs on these are up to 3 TIMES thicker than any other chair like this I’ve seen. What this means is that the whole back section is fatter which provides extra structural strength and durability. Also the front 2 legs are squared off at the joint section. The upper part has been tapered and rounded where it’s seen but where the upholstery is the teak is actually square which makes it a decent bit fatter at the joint area. This fine attention to construction detail is something we don’t see in Australian made chairs from this era. The construction of these is stunning- not just beautiful but from a quality standpoint but don’t take my word for it. After about 25 years of use EVERY one of these chairs is PERFECTLY solid and sturdy with not even a touch of movement in any chair joint at all.
N.O. Møller is known for the elegance of his furniture and highly-skilled craft. 20th-century Danish design was founded upon the principle that beauty is found by stripping away ornamentation rather than adding it. This meant that craftsmen had to rely on the materials, form and skill of their own hands. (The chairs on offer here are TEAK.)
I shouldn’t need to state this but will. The construction quality of these FAR exceeds the quality of the most popular Parker chairs with the oval backs. Those chairs are actually plywood with teak veneer on them and I’ve seen them sell in many upmarket mid-century stores for $650 EACH- Parker chairs don’t compare to these making them a MUCH stronger investment for you. If you’re going to buy furniture consider INVESTING in high-quality timeless vintage designs made by CRAFTSMEN and not churned out by the thousands in Chinese factories where cutting corners is the only edge they have (to get the cheap prices). After those Chinese chairs have ended up as landfill there’s no guessing where these chairs will be- if you use these with even a little bit of sense they will passed onto a new generation, still fetching AU$1000 EACH chair across the globe (or more).
And I almost forgot- for a dining chair the comfort is very good. Don’t expect lounge-room comfort (after all you’re supposed to sit and eat your dinner on these- not fall asleep!) but expect to have no gripe about the comfort. Niels Moller’s design has considered the function of the chair just as much as the aesthetic appeal.
