Senator Easy Teak Chair by Ole Wanscher for France and Son, 1951

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Elegant teak armchair designed by Danish furniture designer Ole Wanscher for France & Son in 1950's. Solid teak frame with two separate pillows with coil springs. The chairs has been restored. Two new cushions upholstered in grey mauve 100% wool. The teak wood frame has been smoothed with the finest frit sandpaper and preserved with special Danish teak oils. Fabrics used are the highest quality. The shape has been kept in every detail as original.
 
Designer: Ole Wanscher
 
Model: Senator
 
Manufacturer: France & Søn / France & Daverkosen
 
Place of Origin: Denmark
 
Period: Mid Century
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Date of Origin: circa 1951
 
Material: Teak Wood, Wool
 
Color: Grey, Mauve
 
Ole Wansher was born in Copenhagen in 1903, Danish architect-designer Ole Wanscher was a key player in Denmark's midcentury modern movement. In the postwar era, the simple and refined aesthetic he achieved by reinventing classic forms helped define Scandinavian design, and many of his pieces became staples in Scandinavian homes.Wanscher studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts under famous architect-designer Kaare Klint (1888-1954). Upon graduating, Wanscher worked with Klint from 1924 to 1927 and, after Klint passed away, Wanscher was given Klint's professorship at the academy —a position he held until he retired in 1973.In 1927, Wanscher opened his own architecture firm, specializing in furniture design. Like Klint, Wanscher disagreed with the modernist full-sail rejection of the past and preferred to explore classic yet minimal aesthetics informed by precise study of the human body. Wanscher was also heavily influenced by Greek, Chinese, and Egyptian designs—which he encountered during his many travels abroad—as well as proto-modernist movements, like the Viennese Secession, Biedermeier, and Shaker styles.Between the 1940s and 1960s, Wanscher enjoyed fruitful collaborations with small-scale, artisanal cabinetmakers, like the masterful A. J. Iversen (1888-1979), as well as well as larger-scale Danish companies, such as France & Søn, Fritz Hansen, Poul Jeppesen, and Rud Rasmussen.
 
France & Søn—and its predecessor, France & Daverkosen—are among the most sought after names on the vintage market today. Numerous pieces that are still in circulation retain their original identifying labels and were designed by major midcentury Danish designers, like Hvidt & Mølgaard, Grete Jalk, Finn Juhl, Arne Vodder, and Ole Wanscher. It's surprising, then, that so little information about the company's history and evolution has survived.