I was told this chair is a california design, is it?  

Remind me a bit of Tormod...
Remind me a bit of Tormod Alnaes

Okay...this is interesting. ...
Okay...this is interesting. I'd never heard of the Dokka chair attributed to Sven Ivar Dysthe. It seems to be the same design as the one above (other than upholstery) that I have always (well at least for the last year or so) thought was designed by Tormod Alnaes. Sorry to highjack the thread but can anyone provide clarification?

Sven Ivar Dysthe
It looks like a sofa made by Sven Ivar Dysthe produced by Dokka Möbler. For pictures from a Scandinavian auctions site please see:
http://www.lauritz.com/Item/Item.aspx?ItemId=1646960&LanguageId=5

Dysthe's website
You can see the pictures from all of his designs on his webpage
http://www.dysthedesign.no/engelsk/index.html

I'm not entirely convinced...
I'm not entirely convinced just yet. Look closely at the original picture and compare it with Svens chair. You'll see flat bars opposed to round bars. Where the lower rear support bar meets the rosewood cross bar, youll see the hardware is also different.