Fall In Love With Vintage Furniture

Today’s renewed interest in original design classics also does the planet well.

- Low Shi Ping

In his lifetime, Danish designer Hans J Wegner (1914-2007), the master of Danish chair design, produced more than 500 chairs, many of which have become classics. Among them was the CH27 Easy Chair, designed in 1951 and produced by furniture company Carl Hansen & Son. Distinct for its solid oak frame and cane weave on the back and seat, a piece recently came up for sale at Noden in Singapore, where it sold in no time.

In recent years, vintage furniture has experienced a resurgence, and this sale represents just the tip of the iceberg. In particular, there has been a demand for 20th-century Scandinavian pieces by the likes of Wegner and his ilks, including Arne Jacobsen and Poul Henningsen.

Noden’s owners Marko Yeo and Tawan Conchonnet can attest to this. According to them, it is the result of hygge (pronounced “hoo-ga”), a Danish concept associated with cosiness and comfort. In the bid to recreate it, the timeless Danish furniture designs that spanned the 1940s to the 1960s have taken centre stage.

EMBRACING THE POWER OF NOSTALGIA

“Their stories and adventures are reasons enough to fall in love with them,” says Yeo, whose shop specialises in vintage Scandinavian furniture from that period. “They still look perfect in today’s context and give a more authentic and warm feel.

“It is a compelling experience to purchase something that was manufactured during the golden age of Danish design, when the designers and cabinet makers were still alive, and it is still in excellent condition.”