Chairs with curved back rests: A reference list.  

@gropius. Welcome back. Thank you for posting those stamps /labels.

Despite lots of searching at the time, I couldn't find any information as to maker/designer or dates of production.Lots of lovely photos of the chairs but no images of makers mark etc:

Most of the time you see it described as the " fire" chair or model T21 and  MISattributed to Kai Kristiansen, who did not design it.

My best guess, with regard to the markings on your chair, is that they relate to the maker of ply baseboard and the tag is just the retailer of these chairs. The label might help with the date though if you can find information on the named company.

And these chairs pop up for sale both in Europe and USA. Can they be broken down into component parts for transport, which would make sense if they are being transported worldwide.

Copen-Ex sounds like a Danish exporter to me; similar in name to Bo-Ex, the later export arm of Bovirke (see attached image for a Bo-Ex brand clearly adapted from the more recognizable Bovirke FJ brand. While I have never heard of Copen-Ex, it would seem that they exported this chair to the New York retailer listed in the paper label.

This chair is one of the bigger mysteries here. I would love to know who made it. Korup is a candidate - but Korup usually marked their chairs and these never come with a mark. As far as Copen-Ex is concerned, I'm with @cdsilva.

@herringbone. It did cross my mind that EX was shorthand for export; however ,as the "copen-ex"  mark does not appear on the underside of the chair ( final image posted by @gropius) I thought it might be the board maker ,as it would seem it is hidden under the upholstery. This might explain why we have not yet seen one of these chairs with a makers mark; And retailer paper labels tend to fall off... 🤔 

@lexi it should be possible to find out what Copen-Ex did. I‘ll try and research, they should appear in old phonebooks. 

Is the Copen-Ex mark on the top side of the plywood, or just hidden under the paper label?

Posted by: lexi

@herringbone. It did cross my mind that EX was shorthand for export; however ,as the "copen-ex"  mark does not appear on the underside of the chair ( final image posted by @gropius) I thought it might be the board maker ,as it would seem it is hidden under the upholstery. This might explain why we have not yet seen one of these chairs with a makers mark; And retailer paper labels tend to fall off... 🤔 

Sorry, I should have noted that the Copen-Ex mark is underneath the label, which is why it doesn't show up in the final pic. The label was stapled top and bottom, covering the stamped mark. Therefore, although it doesn't look like it from my pic, it is in the right place for an export mark, as cdsilva guessed.

@cdsilva. It appears you were correct.

While I am here , I have found a number of adverts for this INTERNATIONAL home furnishings retailer. They show models by DUX( Folke Ohlsson),  LK Hjelle ( Gerhard Berg), PI Langlos (Gerhard Berg).

Maybe a member based in USA might be able to get more info or find adverts  for this retailer ( one featuring @gropius chair would be a bonus! ). I have tried all word combinations and so far nothing except the ones mentioned, which I found on Instagram.

Perhaps this discussion should be continued on the "unverified curved back chair" thread until we find a definitive answer 🤔 

https://designaddict.com/community/identification/curved-back-rest-chair-madsen-and-larsen

There are some extra things that can be said about this mystery Copen-Ex chair: it is usually (always?) afrormosia. It has machine cut finger joints.  I have seen many of them and never a mark aside from this Copen-Ex. All this adds up to a design produced probably starting in the very late 1950s to early 1960s. The maker was not a member of the Danish Furnituremakers’ Control organization and that knocks out almost all of the better known factories. 

Jutex was also another company with a similar name, being a handful of Aarhus area small facotories in Jutland who sold and exported under the Jutex name (Arne Hovmand Olsen was part of the ownership).  Or there is Dan-Ex which I know very little about. Or as CdSilva mentions, Bo-Ex, which I know rather a lot about.  One of the observations that can be made with names like this is that they were not probably the names that locals would know the companies by, but they were producing their own product for export. So it may well be the case that Copen-Ex is one of the valid names for the maker.  It might even be the one valid name. And by comparison with Jutex, it suggests the maker was in Copenhagen, which is unusual because often the factories were out in the provinces. 

My friend Lars Korsgaard got an old Korup catalog, which is interesting per se. It lists basically all known Korup models but unfortunately no designer. At least we know that this chair here was Model nr. 21. The Copen-Ex-chair (fire chair?) is not in it, which makes it even less likely that it was produced by Korup.

@herringbone. Great.  So we have model number and maker.... I think the designer may remain a mystery, just like the "fire" chair. Fab colours in the catalogue pic 😎 ;

Any other interesting furniture in that catalogue ? Or are you saving it for a rainy day... further revelations to be disclosed, at a later date !!

Adding another chair which is interesting as it is so similar to the "Sonja" chair designed by Johannes Andersen for Vamo.

This chair is made by Albin Johansson & Sonner, Hyssna, Sweden. Carl Ewert (E ) Ekstrom designed for this company but his designs were usually marked with his name as well as the aforementioned company mark so this chair is probably not by him.

And the two chairs from SOS Møbelfabrik. Both heavily inspired by Theodor Harlev designs. 

@herringbone. I am glad you added those chairs. I wasn't sure if it would be OK with @vildbjerg-lkj to do so, but it makes sense to include them.

Johannes Andersen for Uldum, I noticed this chair posted earlier but I have 2 sets of these bought separately listing them as the same Johannes Andersen for Uldum but the bottom of the armrest(? not really an armrest but) is slightly different. I am wondering if this is just a small variation on the same chair or ??