Arne Jacobsen Egg chair identification  

Hi RoyD
Sorry for the response time, i finally heard back from Fritzhansen, after sending them the photos of my chair. this was they said.
"I am glad to confirm your chair is an original.
It is a beautiful piece."
 
Nice to know, but i was hoping for a little more information about it, like year of manufacture  etc.
Oh well, maybe i send some more emails untill they get fed up with me 😉

Hello Rootsboy
Thanks for responding ~ great photos of yours by the way, especially the 70's style parents photo. Having been a teenager in the 70's myself I have clear memories of some ill-advised flared trousers and shirts....thankfully no snapchat etc then!
Delighted Fritz Hansen have confirmed your chair is genuine; mine looks identical to yours (on the surface at least) so I may send them some pics too and see what they say. I was given mine after the recent death of an elderly neighbour I'd helped over the past few years.. The chair is great to sit in but my, does that pvc generate some heat once you've been sitting in it for a while! I'd like  it to go to someone else too eventually. I really liked design and the reason I'd like it verified is whether it is original is to ascertain if it is worth re-upholstering in a more natural fabric.
Will post once I have some news.
We have some two Skandium shops near where I live and  a Frtiz Hansen and I've been looking at some other egg chairs too.....they are very smart  indeed and very tempting....
RoyD

rootsboy, are you sure that your parents' egg chair is upholstered in vinyl?  I don't think vinyl is malleable enough to show the seam allowances through the top layer like you can see in your 5th photo.  Same with the rippling from the hand stitching---most vinyls don't succumb to this kind of finer molding.  I could be wrong, though---but it looks like leather to me.  
Does anyone know if Fritz Hansen ever used vinyl on egg chairs?  
I know it doesn't look terribly worn the way vintage leather usually does, but if the chair wasn't actually used a lot then it could still look this good.  And if it is original leather and in this condition, it's probably advisable to leave it if you want to preserve the value of the chair.
That is a GREAT photo, by the way!  

Fritz Hansen did offer the egg chair in vinyl or leatherette back in the 1960s. At that time, there was not the same stigma associated with vinyl, naugahyde, plastics and laminates that there is today (a stigma I personally think is foolish and illogical).
We own a vintage egg chair in vinyl and love it. It is still in great condition. It's held up better than another egg chair from the same period we have in our shop that is upholstered in its original leather.
As for reupholstering your egg chair Rootsboy, and this applies for anyone else with a vintage egg chair, I would only consider reupholstery if it is in very poor condition. As I stated, I don't have any objection to the original vinyl and I know there are others who feel the same. If it's in good shape, and if you really dislike that material for some reason, I would sell it to someone who appreciates it in original material and condition and buy one that is more to your liking.
 
 
 

Hello Spanky and Pegboard
 
Interesting comments and questions. I am certain the chair I have is upholstered in vinyl; it has a cushion with it and one of the seams has separated allowing a look inside. This shows that the chaircovering has a cloth backing and I'm pretty sure leather wouldn't need a fabric backing to allow it to be worked?
It is a good point too about how the late 50's/60's these PVC style fabrics were seen as stylish and modern rather than cheap.  
 
i am not too sure what to do now really in terms of re-upholstering; my old neighbour was a real character and had  a very wide variety of interests with life very much lived on his  own terms ~ but keeping the house clean wasn't one of those interests!  The chair needs a really good clean. however, the good thing about pvc etc is they can take a fairly harsh clean so maybe that is the way forward.
 
Thanks again for taking time to comment