Vamo Sonderborg chair?  

Indeed. The backrest of the Albin Johansson's chair is curved (a bit like the M

Here is a page from an old Vamo M

Sounds promising, thanks so much for the input and very exciting to see Johannes Andersen's name. I will receive the chair tomorrow and will obviously look for stamps, but one would think the auction firm would have mentioned it if there were obvious stamps under the seat. Therefore I assumed there are none, but I'll know tomorrow. Would the abscence of stamps be equal to rhe chair being a knock-off?

No. Many legit Danish furniture pieces are unmarked (or marked with stickers/labels that fell off or were removed over the years). Details, dimensions, and construction are ways to determine legitimacy. I would be surprised if anyone was knocking off this Vamo chair design.

Not that cdsilva needs any seconding around here--I think he knows more than me--but I am going to second his point because it deserves it: the way to determine authenticity is in the details of the piece; the mark is nothing more than a convenient shortcut when it exists. And shortcuts always have an inherent level of risk. Fake marks are not common but they do exist.

Thank you both for insightful input. I totally agree with Leif's remark reg. stamps/marks, but if one is a novis it's hard to use other clues than the obvious, like in this case the general shape, joint techniques, wood used and screws/bolts used. As for knock-offs, Albin Johansson's version is rather close to Being one, I'd say...

Inspiration for new designs have come from previous designs for as long as humans have been engaging in arts, crafts, and architecture. There are enough design differences between the Andersen and Johansson chairs that the term "knockoff" is not applicable.

Knockoffs refer to unlicensed attempts to duplicate a design as close as possible, usually in a cheaper manner, with the idea of passing it off for the original. E.g. There are many Eames DCW and LCW knockoffs in the marketplace. There are also Thonet plywood chairs which might be confused as Eames chairs by those not familiar with Eames' work. Those Thonet chairs are not knockoffs.

Apropos of this design, there is a second version of it in the Vamo catalog, which is more for lounging. It is deeper. It is described as a fireplace chair. I've never even seen a photo of a surviving exemplar. The joints look risky, so perhaps they all died an early death.

Reg. knock-offs; I'm aware that knock-offs are copies (hence the "close to being"), and inspiration from others is normal. However I think Albin J. and the designer did not manage to infuse enough "own uniqueness" in their version. The general shape dimensionwise is very, very similar and the leg composition and joining exactly the same (at least from a distance). But who knows, maybe there was a third version somewhwere that they both got inspired by 🙂

The chair was a Vamo S. btw, found proper marks and all details were correct. The original fabric was a great grey rough textile, probably wool, and it seemed unused.

Where can you find more info on vamo as a company please, are there any old catalogs around online?

i have several chairs, I’d like to know more about then

Post photos