Scandinavian heavy afromosia sling chair, any ideas as to designer?  

Are you sure it is Afrormosia? Because that looks Brazilian to me.

Thanks Leif, I'm never really sure, I get it wrong often enough! If you don't mind I'll upload a couple of close ups of the wood. It's really heavy, quite a bulky piece. Feels 70's rather than anything earlier, but I love the tightening screws makes me think it can be disassembled.

Some more pictures! I think you're right Leif.....

Particularly the last picture.

I can say it is not Afromosia.

Thanks Leif, any ideas as to what it is? It feels like quality, but a bit later than 50's/60's.

Your chair looks similar to the Sergio Rodrigues "mole" chair but there are some differences,especially the way the straps are attached to the frame. With all those screws maybe it was a "knockdown" version? I am not an expert on woods but a lot of brasilian furniture used Jacaranda.

lexi.

Thanks Lexi, that's a great place to start. I initially thought knockdown too for import, seeing as I'm in your neck of the woods..... I saw a special edition of the Mole chair based on the 1967 original that looked shockingly like mine. The frame I have also has numbers on the inside, maybe as a guide to build and no screws on the straps for the same reason? Did they make early knock offs of the Mole chair? So close but so far.....Not as comfy as I initially thought, its tough to get out of! I've taken some pictures of the numbers.

So I emailed the people at sergiorodrigues.com and espasso.com, so I'm hoping to hear back from them. Does anyone have any other ideas to try? Maybe who else to contact?

Ok so after lots of trawling I've found a few examples of the Mole chair with the screw holes! Unfortunately they were from 1st dibs so I have to take them with a pinch of salt. I had a conversation with the previous owners son and he said it had in his memory he thinks it might have been reupholstered in the 80's when the sofa they had was done. Here are the pictures.....

do you use instagram? if you use the search tag #molechair you can see a variety of examples quickly including a page for 'espasso' a dealer in mcm and contemporary brazilian design ...perhaps he would comment...he has one post dated last february 18 that is titled 'sixty years of mole chair designs' so perhaps he has seen some variations ...bon chance

LCA thank you for that! I had emailed espasso but took your advice and messaged them on instagram, hopefully I'll get a response. Espasso seem to be experts in Brazilian design so hopefully they will have some ideas on the chair, whatever the outcome. I do so dislike not finding answers, even if they're not what I'd hoped!

A bit of an update, one of my enquiries came back to me (Espasso) and said while they cannot make a definitive authentication without physically seeing it, based on the images it is an original authentic Mole chair that has been re-strapped. So nice to hear that! Thank you Lexi for pointing me in the right direction, and LCA for helping find a source to confirm! I just wish it was more comfortable......!

Just in case anyone else is interested, I heard back from a lovely representative at Sergiorodrigues.com.br who confirmed that it is an authentic Mole chair! It stated:

Dear _______

You have a good Mole Chair from the time it was produced by Oca. The fixtures are correct and they were commonly used for export products.

You will find better information about a new strap set for your Mole Chair with LinBrasil which is the company licensed for the Mole Chair production.

LinBrasil: http://www.linbrasil.com.br/site/?lang=pt