Slangestolen / The Snake Chair by Poul Henningsen 1932
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Having looked at and written about a number of Danish chairs that were designed in the 20th century, it seemed important to include this chair - The Snake Chair designed by Poul Henningsen - not because it is remotely representative - it is actually perversely unique - but because it is distinctly modern in the materials it used.
With a single coil of tubular steel to support the seat and back, it breaks with almost all conventions, but, curiously, it also appears to be 'of it's period'.
So if someone who did not know the chair was asked to guess its date they would, at the very least, see that it is unlikely to be a recent design but nor is it old, in the sense of being traditional or conventional. If then told that it dates from the 1930s many would see that it fits with the general style of that period … with aspects in common with furniture from the Bauhaus in Germany or with Art Deco furniture from France or the Netherlands. It appears to be even more certainly of that period when you see photographs of the chair along with the piano that Poul Henningsen designed so a combination of materials - tubular steel - and a sort of deliberately outrageous look sets a sense of a style of a very specific period.
The form of the chair is the product of a highly individual and unconventional designer who was known for his work designing lights that were - and still are produced by the Danish company of Louis Poulsen - but Poul Henningsen was also a journalist - he wrote for Politiken and edited the journal Critical Review - was an advocate of jazz music - wrote enthusiastically of his admiration for Josephine Baker, when she performed in Copenhagen, wrote songs himself; was a filmmaker and was - appropriately - architect to the park at Tivoli.
update March 2021:
I am grateful to Søren Svendsen who allowed me to take photographs of the Snake Chair in the showrooms of PH Furniture in Bredgade in Copenhagen. It was particularly important to be able to photograph the extraordinary frame of the chair without the seat and back rest. It is formed from a single length of steel tube that is just over 4 metres or 13 ft long.
Note that the chair shown above has leather upholstery on the seat and the back rest that is taken over the steel frame but there are two other options - one with an upholstered seat and back or a chair with a solid seat and back - with the seat and backrest set within the tubing.
designed by Poul Henningsen (1894-1967)
originally made by VA Høffding
now produced under a licence from the family by
PH Furniture, Bredgade 6, 1260 Copenhagen K
chromed steel and leather
height: 86 cm
width/diameter: 38 cm
height of seat: 50 cm
