Guest Blog: Vampt Vintage
The World of Vintage Design
Our passion for vintage has built up over the past 11 years and is nothing short of an obsession. The thrill I get when I find an amazing piece that I have never seen before and am lucky enough to buy is enough to stop me from sleeping for hours at a time. But it’s not just some fad, or an unworthy infatuation with an idea or concept, its solid woods, super styling designs by the most iconic designers and future assets that make the world of vintage furniture the most unexpected love affair that is now our life.
The treasure hunt, the thrill of the chase, the rare find. However you think of it, it’s an unforgettable moment when you get your hands on the one you love and will enjoy for many years. Whether it is the most comfortable piece, or the aesthetics that suits your style or both, you can add some character with a piece that tells a story and can look like it’s been there forever. If they could talk, some of the pieces would have some stories to tell I’m sure.
Myself aside, let’s talk designers and their stories in brief. Take Hans Wegner for instance. What a legend. In the mid 40’s he had all these amazing designs in his head, but before he put any of them on paper he went and studied 4 years of ergonomics. Then from about 1949 he produced pieces like the Bear Chair by AP Stolen, the Shell Chair and Sofa by Fritz Hansen and onward into the 50’s where he produced so many amazing designs. They are too numerous to put a number on with all the best Danish manufacturers and they are now some of the most iconic and sought after designs ever produced. His pieces, some that have never gone out of production since the late 40’s and the 50’s are still being produced and shipped all over Europe and the rest of the world.
Almost, if not every design Hans Wegner did is just so well designed it’s hard not be happy to sit for extended periods, without fidgeting and needing a change of position and posture. This leads me into the world of Danish design as we know it. So many companies that were part of the mid-century movement are still manufacturing today. Let’s name a few, and I would say you will have heard of some if not most of them, or you will surely recognise some of the pieces they have produced, way before the world of replicas.
Fritz Hansen is still producing so many amazing designs by the likes of Arne Jacobsen including; the Swan Chair, The Egg Chair, Series 7 and the Ant Chairs to name just a few. As well as the genius and well taken Poul Kjaerholm and a mass of lesser known designers like Karen Ebbe Clemenson, Kai Kristiansen, Alf Svensson and many more.
Every piece of Danish design by N.O Moller is second to none in terms of quality and style, and is recognisable the moment you lay eyes on it whether you know its Moller or not. Haslev is maybe less known to the novice, but highly regarded by the people who are aware of the subtle features of their joinery and stream line designs. Carl Hansen and Son to this day are producing many of the designs Hans Wegner did for them with the same craftmanship and skills passed through generations. They produce too many of Wegner’s classics to name just one.
PP Mobler bought the catalogue of work Hans Wegner designed for AP Stolen and are still producing the Hans Wegner Bear Chair which has never gone out of production with the exact same methods and techniques passed on through their master craftsmen. It’s possibly the most comfortable chair you will ever sit in. It must be tried to be believed. For any person, any shape and size it just fits.
Louis Poulsen is possibly the most famous and successful lighting manufacturer of all times. The PH5 has been so well taken that I think it may be told that there have been more of those produced than any other light. Designed by Poul Henningsen, even though it’s been well used, the PH5 is still such a great design that it’s used in new fit outs and is the star of the show after all these years. They also feature the designs of Verner Panton who is among one of the best in the era of futuristic designers of the 60’s. Whether it is his curly, colourful padded rooms or his stunning plastic mushroom Panthella lamps, he’s another designer who made mid-century Danish design the most memorable and sought after of the vintage world.
There are so many other designers and companies from places other than Denmark like the US-based Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller, Fredrik Kayser working with Vatne of Norway, or another Norweigan firm called Rastaad and Relling, an interior architecture firm who designed and produced custom pieces for their fit outs between the 40’s and the 70’s. Custom one offs, wow and I have one.
The last designer I want to mention is Yjro Kukkapuro of Finland. He was another outstanding mid-century designer who designed some very unusual and stunning designs like the one featured here. It’s the Saturnus Sofa which he designed in 1966, and was produced by Haimi. Made from moulded fibreglass and plastic with steel for strength, it was no doubt cutting edge design for its time. And take my word for it, it’s so nice to sit in that you will never go back to the world of lesser quality and quickly out dated design that is the new furniture of today. Timeless design is just that. It always has been and always will be, simply the best.
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