FHFModern’s Top 10 Favorite Mid Century Modern Chairs
We spent time setting up this list of our favorite mid century modern chairs to give you only the best! From the American inspired designs of Charles and Ray Eames to the Finish replicas of Eero Saarinen and down south to France where the our number 10 chair was created.
10. Sénat Chairs
If you’ve ever gone to The Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris, France, you’ve seen the Sénat Chairs gracing the park. The original chairs where created in 1923 in France by the parks department workshops and in the 1990’s French company Fermob became the official supplier.
The Charles and Ray Eames Wire Chair originally started as an experimentation in bent and welded wire in the 1950’s. More than 60 years later this chair has stood the test of time and is still one of the most requested chairs in the mid-century furniture market. Its always great to experiment and try new things because hey, you never know!
8. Shell Chair AKA Smiling Chair
If you want a chair that puts a smile in your room, The Shell Chair is it. The Shell Chair was designed by Danish furniture designer Hans J. Wegner and created in 1963. What makes this chair unique besides its wing-like seat design is that the chair rests on three legs.
7. Panton Chair
Created by Danish designer Verner Panton, this chair is know as the world’s first molded plastic chair. What became design drawings and sketches of the Panton Chair by Verner in the 1950’s, became fully produced in 1965.
6. Swan Chair
Designed By Arne Jacobsen in 1958, this chair was engineered for the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, a hotel Arne also engineered…how awesome is that! Arne also used The Swan Chair in other architectural projects like for The Danmarks Nationalbank, the central bank of the Kingdom of Denmark in which he also designed.
If you’re ever in any major downtown metropolitan area, you’ll find in lots of café’s, bistro’s, bars and modern restaurants using the inspired or original designed Marais A Chair, created in 1934 by metalworker Xavier Pauchard. The classic French chair is loved by many for its solid engineering and stackable feature.
Just like The Eames, in the 1950’s Harry Bertoia began to experiment with bent metal rods for 2 years. The unique part about the story is that he was hired by Hans and Florence Knoll (Founders Of Knoll), who gave him the freedom to design whatever suited him without being held back. What he created still is one of the most requested chairs in the mid-century industry.
When manufacturer Plycraft ask Norman Cherner to design what is known as The Cherner Armchair, the owner at Plycraft later told Norman his chair had been scrapped and yet it continued to be produce it without his knowledge. What made matters worse is that the Plycraft owner claimed himself as the designer. The chair became popular when it appeared in the 1961 “The Artist at Work” painting by Normal Rockwell. Plycraft was later sued and agreed to pay royalties to Norman.
Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich, this chair was engineered originally for the International Exposition of 1921, which was hosted by Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The Barcelona Chair was first used in the World Heritage Site “Villa Tugendhat”, a building in Brno, Czech Republic created by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe himself.
Now before we get messages from all the mid-century enthusiasts telling us this is not a mid century modern piece, we thought we’d add The Masters Chair at number 1 for being the first to combine three mid-century classic chairs into one. The Philippe Starck designed chair combines The Saarinen Tulip Chair, The Eames Molded Shell Chair and The Arne Jacobsen’s Series 7 chair.
We hope you enjoyed our Top 10 List For Favorite Mid Century Modern Chairs! Check out mid century reproduction furniture from everyone mentioned on this blog on our site plus more! You can also stay up to date with the latest in mid-century modern furniture by follow us on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter @FHFModern
