Two-seat sofa by Kaare Klint 1929

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This sofa was designed for the Danish Pavilion at the Exposición Internacional de Barcelona that opened on 15 May 1929 and continued until 15 January 1930.

The frame is in Cuban Mahogany and the sofa is upholstered with goatskin leather covers for the loose cushions and with the frame itself covered with leather held along the bottom edge by closely-spaced, round-headed, brass fixing tacks used as a decorative feature.

In the l1920s and in the 1930s, Klint designed a number of sofas and most with legs between the different sections …. so the two-seat sofas have six legs and the three-seat sofas eight legs and most with cross bracing forming a cross below the seats. Here, in the two-seat sofa, there are stretchers set back from the front line of the front legs allowing people to tuck their feet back without touching the stretcher as they are sitting in the sofa or when they are standing up.

Stretchers are chamfered on the under edge partly to reduce the apparent thickness but also to strengthen the vulnerable edge which is more likely to splinter or dent if it is left as a sharp angle. The underside of lower frame are also shaped up inside the housing with the legs and the line of brass tacks follows and emphasises this line.

The sofa has thin upholstered end pieces as arm rests that ramp up at the back to the higher bank panel and thin loose cushions at each side mirror this shape. There are double cushions on the seat, the top cushions with down for comfort. There are also soft loose cushions for the back rest.

The pavilion itself was designed by Tyge Hvass and took as a starting point Danish vernacular architecture of the 17th or 18th century. The exterior was painted red and the simple building had a pitched roof covered with clay pantiles.

Lighting for the pavilion was from Louis Poulsen and was designed by Poul Henningsen.

two-seater sofa 1929
designed by Kaare Klint (1888-1954)
made by the cabinetmaker Rud. Rasmussen
identified in the catalogue of the Design Museum as sofa model 4035

Cuban mahogany with goatskin leather and round-headed brass fixing tacks.

height: 86 cm (34 inches)
width: 137 cm (54 inches)
depth: 74 cm (29 inches)

 

the Danish Pavilion at the Exposición Internacional de Barcelona in 1929

the German Pavilion in Barcelona designed by Mies van der Rohe

a three-seat sofa without loose cushions and with the cross bracing below
this is Model no. 4118 designed for the office of the Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning
Klint designed a two-seat version of this for the Ny Carlsberg Foundation in 1930 with the same shape of end but with leather upholstered cushions closely buttoned so
an interesting amalgamation of the 4118 and the Barcelona two-seat sofa

sectional sofa 4698 by Kaare Klint 1933

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Designed by Kaare Klint and made by the cabinetmaker Rud.Rasmussen, the sectional sofa was shown at the Cabinetmakers’ Autumn Exhibition in Copenhagen in 1933.

It had two wide and low, leather-covered chairs without arms and a low stool, the same height as the seat of the chairs and also covered with leather. They could be arranged to form a wide, bench-like sofa or day bed with the slim and slightly angled upright ‘backs’ at each end forming arm rests or bed head and foot board or the chair units could be set side by side to form a wide two-seat sofa with a foot stool.

The room display for the exhibition was a ‘Study and Terrace’ and, as well as the sofa, furniture included a desk with a typewriter that swivelled up from the top drawer; a wide bookcase with glazed sliding doors and, for the terrace, the Deckchair or Folding Chair by Klint and his Safari Chair.

 
 

The frame of the sofa was mahogany, left untreated, and the upholstery was fixed with leather-covered buttons set regularly to form a diamond pattern in a traditional technique.

This fine leather - in the original furniture Niger goatskin - was taken down smoothly to cover the frame completely and because the chairs are low and solidly built they do not need cross rails so, together, the effect is that the chairs are very simple and look strong or robust. It is probably this and the buttoned leather that gives the impression that this is furniture for a gentlemen’s club.

In 1929, Klint had designed furniture for the Danish Pavilion at the Exposición Internacional de Barcelona with a large sectional table, and a leather-covered sofa that had narrow upright arms and separate cushions.

Klint visited the exhibition so surely he saw the German Pavilion designed by Mies van der Rohe with low upholstered chair - That became known as the Barcelona Chair and was to become an iconic design of modern furniture or rather international modern furniture.

Is the sectional sofa - heavy, squarely set, wide and almost starkly simple - without discernible style - designed just two or three years later, Klint’s response?

We know that Klint’s knowledge of furniture design was wide ranging but, when teaching, he used the study collection of the Design Museum to inspire his students and focused their attention on details of construction - used in other countries and in different traditions of cabinetmaking - rather than style or decorative elements.

designed by Kaare Klint  (1888-1954)
made originally by the cabinetmaker Rud. Rasmussen
the sofa/chair is now produced by Carl Hansen & Son.

exhibited at the Cabinetmakers' Autumn Exhibition in 1933

mahogany frame and covered with leather

seat with back
height: 79cm
width: 92cm
depth: 70cm
height of seat: 37cm

stool
height/seat height: 37cm
width: 92cm
depth: 62cm

note:
Dimensions above are taken from the online catalogue of Designmuseum Danmark and sale catalogues.
In his definitive catalogue of the work of Kaare Klint published in 2010 Gorm Harkær gives slightly different measurements: height 33¼ inches (84cm) width 39 inches (99cm) and depth 26 inches (66cm)

the desk, bookcase and a Safari Chair by Klint from 1933 photographed at Designmuseum Danmark.
note the chair pulled up to the desk is also by Klint but not from the Cabinetmakers’ Exhibition in 1933 but a Faaborg Chair designed by Klint in 1914

 
 

desk and cabinet by Kaare Klint (1933)

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The desk and separate three-drawer cabinet were designed by Kaare Klint and made by the cabinetmaker Rud. Rasmussen. Together with a bookcase and the sectional sofa they were shown at the Cabinetmakers' Exhibition in Copenhagen in 1933.

The pieces are in mahogany with ebony as a contrast for the base of the cabinet and for the foot of the legs of the desk. The distinct feature of the desk is the legs with an L-shape cross section … a form used by Klint in several designs and a feature of the construction used by Klint in his designs for the display cabinets for the Design Museum itself. This makes the uprights lighter but stronger than a single piece of squared timber particularly for pieces of any length.

This is early functional design at its best: the top drawer of the cabinet was fitted with a typewriter that swung out on a mechanism that brought it up to the level of the desk top; the middle drawer was designed for pens and inks and the lowest drawer was for files and papers held vertically - so a filing cabinet. Because the separate cabinet could be placed on either side of the desk, this design was more flexible than a traditional pedestal desk with fixed drawers on one side or the other or on both sides for a larger desk.

The desk and cabinet were never produced commercially so are unique.

designed by Kaare Klint (1888-1954)
made by the cabinetmaker Rud. Rasmussen
exhibited at the Cabinetmakers' Autumn Exhibition in 1933

mahogany and ebony

desk
height: 75cm
width: 97cm
depth: 68.5cm

3-drawer cabinet
height:75cm
width: 48cm
depth: 68.5cm

photographs taken at Designmuseum Danmark in Copenhagen

 

chair for the museum in Faaborg by Kaare Klint 1914

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Now, in many ways, this chair appears to be old fashioned - looking backward to earlier styles of furniture as a reinterpretation of an historic type of chair - but it should be seen to mark or define the start of a distinctly modern approach to furniture design.

Faaborg is on the south coast of the island of Funen - just over 40 kilometres from Odense. A new museum there was founded in June 1910 to display the work of a group of artists known as the Funen painters and in 1912 it was the artists themselves who proposed Carl Petersen to design a new gallery that was to be built along one side of the summer home and garden of Mads Rasmussen … a wealthy businessman who had made his fortune through canned food.

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The Red Chair by Kaare Klint 1927

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Designed by Kaare Klint for Kunstindustrimuseet - the Danish Museum of Art and Design that is now called Designmuseum Danmark.

The largest version of the chair was used in the lecture theatre in the museum but there are also two smaller versions to fit at a table or desk and also two versions of the red Chair were made with arms - one with plain wood arms and another with padded or upholstered arm rests.

It is too easy now to dismiss this chair as 'old-fashioned' or at least not particularly relevant to what is happening now in modern chair design and that is, in part, simply because it is not a type or style of chair that is now popular.

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Chair for Kvinderegensen by Rigmor Andersen 1931

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chair in Designmuseum Danmark

 

After studying technical drawing for a year in 1922 Rigmor Andersen entered the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts where she was a student under Kaare Klint in the new School of Furniture and then, from 1929 to 1939, worked in Klint's studio. Her designs for the furniture for Kvinderegensen, a residence for women students on Amager Boulevard in Copenhagen was one of her first major projects and included this chair from 1931.

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Deckchair by Kaare Klint 1933

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chair photographed at Designmuseum Danmark when it was part of a major exhibition on Kaare Klint

 

 

This is not exactly a recliner - you don't lie back in a horizontal or almost-horizontal position - but by having the foot rest raised level with the seat you are 'sitting with your feet up' to use a slightly old-fashioned English phrase that is more than a straight description of how someone is sitting but implies just a bit of pampering or self indulgence.

The chair looks as if it would be most appropriate for the deck of an ocean liner but when it was first shown at the Cabinetmakers' Guild Furniture Exhibition in 1933 it was described as suitable for a garden terrace.

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3daysofdesign - craft and craftsmanship

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Rud Rasmussen, Bredgade, Copenhagen - showroom opened during the 3daysofdesign event

Generally, talking about craft and craftsmanship now, we tend to think of something that is made by hand rather than manufactured - and of pieces of work that are produced as unique items or at least in limited numbers - so something that is unique and highly specialised like a gold or silver cup for a special event - or, at the other extreme, something that is made by someone who might not be a professional or working full time as in pottery or weaving at a craft market.

In fact use of the word craft in English is quite complex and quite subtle implying, to quote the definition in the Oxford dictionary, “Intellectual power; skill; art; ability in planning or constructing, ingenuity, dexterity …. the learning of the schools; a branch of learning; a science … a calling requiring special skill and knowledge … “

In those senses it is possible, clearly, to talk about craft (as in skill and knowledge) in industrial manufacturing.

Rud Rasmussen - The Faaborg Chair designed by Kaare Klint in 1914

The new showroom for Rud. Rasmussen on Bredgade in Copenhagen is obviously about a company with a long tradition of craftsmanship with the employment of craftsmen to produce furniture using well-established skills. The showroom, actually launched during the 3daysofdesign event, has a reconstruction of a workbench that is used for making a Faaborg Chair, designed by Kaare Klint in 1914, and shows clearly the work, skill and time required to produce this furniture using the best materials.

This craftsmanship - in the sense of the understanding the materials used and understanding and making careful use of the skills required to produce a piece - can be most obvious to a customer in the recognition of quality and the appreciation of quality control for the final piece - so the customer becomes aware, when they look at or pick up a piece, that it is beautifully made, without obvious faults and irregularities and feels solid or robust … it is something that is well made and made to last.

Bestlite table lamp from Gubi

With a Bestlite from Gubi you can see immediately that quality is carefully maintained to ensure the continuing reputation of both the design and the brand. Skill and craftsmanship or, rather, the clear understanding of the relationship between the design, an understanding of the materials and the techniques and the mechanics of production for the execution of the design can be used to develop new designs for the range such as the Bestlite table lamp with an opaque glass shade, or new versions of the lights with turned brass shades or lights with stands and fittings in brass that are new but have an appropriate level of patina.

Gubi 52 Chair by Komplot Design 2003

The same level of “skill and knowledge” - the same sense of craftsmanship - from the design process through to manufacture - can be found in upholstery although it might not be so obvious. Selection of the right fabric to maintain the complicated shape of a chair or sofa; the use of piping to define the edge of piece in an elegant and understated way; the setting in of the upholstery from the edge of a shell chair to define crisply the edge (rather than using the cheaper, easier and clumsier method of just wrapping the fabric round and fixing it on the underside) or the even less obvious experiments and trials to produce better, long lasting foam for upholstery that maintains shape and does not go brittle and break down over time as early foams did - are all good examples of craftsmanship and skill and the application of knowledge and experience.

a logo for Rud. Rasmussen Snedkerier

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Kaare Klint worked with Rud Rasmussen Snedkerier from 1926 onwards and their cabinetmakers produced nearly all of his furniture and many of the fittings for the new museum in the old hospital as work on the restoration progressed.

In May 1944 Rasmussen celebrated their 75th anniversary and Klint designed a commemorative wood plaque to mark the occasion. That design is still the logo for the company whose workshops are on Nørrebrogade in Copenhagen.

 

cupboard by Rigmor Andersen

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Rigmor Andersen (1903-1995) trained as an architect and then from 1928 she was one of Kaare Klint’s first students on his furniture design course before working in his studio. She exhibited works at the Cabinetmaker Guild’s annual exhibition. From 1944 through to 1973 she taught at the Royal Academy School of furniture.

This piece, a silver cupboard with drawers, is in Brazilian rosewood with ebony handles and brass hinges and lock and was made by Rud. Rasmussens Snedkerier. It may be the design that was exhibited at the National Museum in Stockholm in 1942 - a copy of that piece was made in 1948 for the Kunstindustrimuseet (now Designmuseum Danmark).

Note the bevelled edges of the doors that sit against the bevelled edge of the side and top boards to give an elegant slim line when the door is closed. This is reminiscent of the display cases designed for the museum by Klint and also made by Rud. Rasmussen. The brass hinges have the simplest possible shape and are set flush and on the inside of the doors the holes for hidden fixing pins are filled with plugs of dark wood for a very subtle decoration.

The drawers have a fine beaded edge - again giving an elegant framing line. Legs are formed from two pieces of wood forming an L shape for strength and given a slight profile at the base. Cross bars or stretchers hold the frame of the legs together allowing the legs to be thinner. The top edge of the leg frame is bevelled and given a set back, again to give it a subtle and elegant emphasis by, in effect, creating a slight shadow below the door.

 

The cupboard is on display in the Designmuseum in their current exhibition Cupboards, cabinets and chests.