Hello Addicts, Stumbled across a misidentified piece for what I believe is an Ilmari Tapiovaara Bench for Edsby-Verken at a small thrift/antiques shop. Everything looks correct (dimensions, spindles, etc.) and the only real pertinent information I've stumbled across online is here at Deconet: http://www.deconet.com/decopedia/template/seating/benches/Bench-by-Ilmari-Tapiovaara-id-132912 It doesn't look like the piece is produced anymore nor for sale anywhere. Kind of tough to really track down and correctly identify because it doesn't seem as known or is in any photos showing his collection of pieces. I believe it's related to his Fanett Chair with the molded seat edge. Unfortunately, this particular piece isn't listed at Artek either or attributed to him... http://www.artek.fi/company/designers/40 I think I'm right according to Deconet but would love further confirmation. Lastly, you can see how they've performed a lovely turquoise stain and wax on the thing. Ugh. Any suggestions for cleaning that up or is it more of a professional job? Thank you all. Cheers. 
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From your photos
I can't help but think that finish looks like badly applied milk paint, rather than a stain, applied in an effort to antique it up a little.
A small test patch with paint remover would answer it. If the paint stripper does nothing, it's milk paint, and you'll need reinforcements...maybe one of DA's resident woodsos would know with more certainty.
Thanks Solange for the...
Thanks Solange for the input.
Yeah, it's listed as being "turquoise washed." I can't believe people do this.
Along with the restoring, I'm still not sure if Tapiovaara actually designed a piece like this, it's misattributed or what. It's online so I don't have any marks to go on right now but everything else has matched up to that Deconet listing. Hope someone more familiar with his work will chime in.
Not sure if its Tapiovaara
Not sure if its Tapiovaara. A lot of stuff gets misattributed to him. Folke Palsson did some very similar work for FDB Mobler that you may want to research. I once had a Tapiovaara mademoiselle chair (that I'm still a little sore about selling) and it was very clearly marked Edsby-Verken and even signed "Mademoiselle" on the bottom. The main difference that I see between Tapiovaara and Palsson is the bent plywood seat. Palsson's are thicker and heavier looking underneath, while Tapiovaara are thinner and have reinforcement for the chair legs.
Hope this helps. It's a very cool bench regardless of designer.
Let's settle this mystery
Let's settle this mystery. Lord knows I love a good hunt and this is what I've come up with.
Bröderna Wigells Stolfabrik, "Florett"
So now the question is... who ended up with it? I hope it's not destined to remained "upcycled." I had grand plans to bring it back if my travels took me down that way.
DHutch17, thanks for the...
DHutch17, thanks for the digging. This just gets more confusing but I don't think the mystery is quite solved. I've seen the bench attached to that maker but it never gives a designer and you see listings that show this -
then this -
They both get attributed to Bröderna Wigells Stolfabrik and to me that just doesn't add up when the bench in question has that tapered seat design of Tapiovaara's Mademoiselle and Fanett chairs. Also it seems a lot of the photos (if you google image search) are coming from Bukowskis Market and Pinterest.
But if there's no Edsbyverken connection perhaps you're right. Still don't know what stamps or labels are on the thing.
They are both by Wigells (Bröderna Wigells Stolfabrik, Malmbäck, Sweden). The first one with the veneer seat is called Florett, the onther one with a solid wood seat is called Florida. There are also chairs in the same series, here are a pair of Florett chairs:
Florida and Florett were designed in the 50's and the Florida range is stil produced:
http://www.wigells.se/serier/florida.aspx
Both series are very popular in Sweden and are often found at auctions.
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