Our chairs were bought on the 7th May 1966 from a shop called L'Interieur, in Wolverhampton UK. When I first saw this chair I was not impressed as it was just a Teak bent wood form with a chromed steel base, swivel and tilt, and an animal hide draped over it.
Challenged by the shop owner to at least sit in it and give it a try, I did and immediately fell in love with it. Despite looking hard and uncomfortable, I found it to be very comfortable and nicely contoured. We were told that the chairs also came in an upholstered style, which we finally settled for, in a nice dark blue colour. They cost just under 58UKP each, which in those days was over a months pay for the pair. We were told that they had been designed by the same person that designed seats for Saab, so we always assumed that they were of Swedish origin.
I have looked all over these chairs many times for a manufacturers name but to no avail, until last week. Whilst polishing the timber, the daylight must have been hitting the base at just the correct angle and I noticed some writing for the very first time. Looking closer with a magnifying glass I could make out that the base was stamped with a Norwegian makers name. If the base was Norwegian could we assume that the chair itself was from Norway and not Sweden.
Isn't the internet a wonderful tool, just put in a name and out comes the most useful information. After following many leads we finally discovered that this iconic chair was designed in 1957 by a Norwegian, Hans Brattrud. They are from his Scandia Series, with popularity peaking in the 1960's but they were no longer produced following a fire in the original factory in the 1970's. Enter Fjordfiesta, a Norwegian company that has since revived the range. The company worked closely with Hans Brattrud to bring these appealing chairs back into production, keeping careful attention to the original detailing and design.
Our chairs have been in everyday use since we bought them and they have traveled around the world. They have been admired by many people and due to their unique design and engineering they are as good as the day they were bought. Young children, and the not so young, have given the swivel/tilt bases a good workout over the years. A cat has even had kittens on one of them. They were reupholstered about 20 years ago and I have just replaced the small feet with bigger ones to spread the load and stop them cutting into the carpet. I have kept the original feet which can be easily replaced to bring the chairs back to their original form.
