There have been a number of ID requests relating to Dux furniture, usually chairs or trying to decipher their brand marks/labels.
The Dux company history is easily available as they are still in business. Their expansion by Folke Ohlsson into the US (1950/51) is also well documented. In the early days they had stock ware houses in San Francisco and NY where all the chair/sofa frames, tables and case goods ,made in Sweden *, were shipped and stored. The "knockdown hardware, patented ( https://patents.google.com/patent/US2650657A/en) by Folke Ohlsson reduced shipping costs. The furniture was assembled using upholstery, made in America to strict specification and was then distributed to different outlets/showrooms . They had showrooms in George Tanier, Decorative Arts Centre,NY and their furniture was sold by Cole-Miller in San Francisco and Carroll Sager Assoc, International Home Furnishing ( I am sure there were many others but these are the ones I have found ,adverts that is , with Dux designs) as well as their own centres in San Francisco, Montreal, and NY.
Initially, apart from their own designs, mostly Folke Ohlsson/Alf Svensson they imported furniture by other designers like Yngve Ekstrom, Bertil Fridhagen, Karl Erik Ekselius, Nils Jonsson. Later, they also started importing designs from Norway( Sven Ivar Dysthe) and Denmark ( Erik Ole Jorgensen. E. Kirkegard) and there were probably others...They also had an arrangement with Bruno Mathsson to sell his Pernilla and Jetson chairs.
* at some point, the manufacturing of the frames was outsourced to factories in other countries:- some of the frames were made in Denmark, which might explain the "made in Denmark" burn brand you find on some of their chairs.
Secondly, you will find some pieces with Dux original import ,some with made in Sweden/Denmark. This is confusing as the ones I have seen with the Made in Sweden are their own designs ? I have seen examples of Hong Stolefabrik ( models 26 and 52) with the made in Denmark ink stamp.
Dux furniture was also made under licence by;
Asko, Finland (22 different designs ) early 60's.
P.I. Langlo, Norway. Studio line; Alf Svensson's Contour series .
Artifort, Holland.
A.P.Madsen, Canada. interesting link; https://www.furniturelinkca.com/news113.htm.
If you have anything to add or have a specific question/query I will see if I have an image , be it an advert, images from catalogues (very few !! ) labels/marks, articles. I have decided not to post any of these at the moment but can do if anyone is interested.
Almost forgot; A few years back, someone found a link that showed a Hans Olsen rocking chair , with an address for Dux Inc. in Virginia. Well I found a Dux catalogue which showed the same address. "Dux furniture catalogue printed in the USA intended for that market. Designers include Ake Nilsson, Arne Norell, Folke Ohlsson, Erik Ole Jorgensen, Bruno Mathsson, Hans Olsen, Ray Zimmermann, Alf Svensson, Bertil Fridhagen and Karl Erik Ekselius. Well illustrated and laid out brochure which was clearly designed to create an image of Scandinavian style with works by Danish, Swedish and Norweigan designers. "
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@lexi Thanks for putting this info together. In researching Dux, you probably came across this account of the estate sale held in 2009 at Ohlsson's home in Atherton, CA. It's always interesting to see how designers furnish their own homes. If you don't want to click on the link, just Google "Folke Ohlsson estate sale blue moon"
http://www.simplifiedbee.com/2009/07/a-blue-moon-duxs-folke-ohlsson-estate-sale.html
By the way, his house sold in 2009 for the relative bargain price of $2.2M. In 2013 it was bulldozed and a new house was built, which Zillow now estimates at $15.6M
@mark737. Thanks. I had come across that account in my searches.
All I had to go on were print adverts, a couple of incomplete catalogues and LOTS of images of furniture with Dux stamps and a few links to random information. It took a while.
Mats Linder has a post about Dux from the 50's. I had some fun trying to find the more familiar names used for the same furniture ! I never realized how many different models were in the Contour Series ( Alf Svensson). All with subtle differences. 🙄
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@lexi Thanks for this good info. Here are the various marks on my Hans Olsen rocker for reference, including the Brdr. Juul Kristensen burn mark.
Is that image of the rocker from the catalog you have? If not, and there's any entry for this chair in the catalog I'd love to see it.
@frankielemmons. The image I posted was from an old thread here where the poster was wondering about the Virginia address ; not from a catalogue. The 2 catalogues/ brochures I found were for sale and very few images were shown and the rocker was not one of them. Sorry.
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@lexi I've never managed to get into Dux's story until now. From my Central European point of view, Danish manufacturers are much closer to me than companies who operated in America. Of course, to understand the mechanisms of the European furniture market in the 50s and the possibilties of export to the US, a company like Dux is still enormously important. So thank you for this overview!
"People buy a chair, and they don't really care who designed it." (Arne Jacobsen)
@mkg.
Thank you for posting that label. Is that a retailer I wonder ?
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Not sure to be honest, could be a company setup to import or get local approval.
The chair has this label sewn on which is more non-descript, but showing it coming from L Jungs Industrier .B Malmo. (So prior to US expansion?)
Worth nothing, fabric and dust cover are not original, and I had the upholstery shop transfer over the label.
A couple years ago I bought a used couch bearing a Dux Design label and a tag with that Virginia address from earlier in the thread:
Made By
Dux Incorporated
5000 City Line Road
Newport News, Virginia 23607
Interestingly, the ZIP code means this must have been made no earlier than 1963, which is when ZIP codes were implemented.
It's my favorite piece of furniture, and I've never been able to find another example of it in searching online. I would love to find a catalog picture or some other information about it. It's surprisingly hard to find good information about this company on the web, with some of the best info coming from forum posts.
@midcenturyslattern. A very kind Forum member (thank you @dustdevil) has sent me images from a 1966 Dux catalogue.
Your sofa is there, slightly different cushions and does not appear to be raised off the floor with wood pieces/feet like yours; of course these could have been a later design addition or added by a previous owner.
Designed by Folke Ohlsson; Model 6352.
Attaching image of the sofa from that catalogue;
ps;- My resolution for 2022 is to add all of the images from that catalogue ,possibly in a different thread. 😀
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