Mogens Koch Safari Chair ?  

Could you take detailed photos, in better light, of all of the joints of the chair? It does resemble the Koch chair. But based on stitching and nailhead details, I don't believe it is an Interna made chair (which has a marked brass plaque on a leg X hinge), nor does it look like the recent Carl Hansen version.

Rud Rasmussen was an early manufacturer of the chair. I am not too familiar with the details of that chair, but believe that those chairs had a marked brass plaque as well. If your chair has no brass plaque, then I would guess that it's mostly likely a vintage replica.

Thanks. From what I've been able to determine this chair has features of the earlier chairs from the 1930s before the chair went into mass manufacturing, including the nails/tacks and the brass endcaps, which I don't thnk occur on later models So, no, I didn't suspect it was a later Interna model. The only viable options seemed that it was either one of those earlier models and therefore unmarked or it was a contemporaraneous reproduction (the hardware and the genral wear to the wodd and leather indicates age). I did read somewhere about an unspecified Spanish company (mahybe it was this one--Valmazan) that tried to copy the chair. If it is a replica, it is a very good one. The other thing I'd add is that I don't think it's rosewood. If I had to guess, I'd guess oak but not with much confidence. I'll post photos of the brass plates on the joints, but there are no markings. Thanks again.

Why do you say that the nailheads and brass end caps are features of 1930's versions?

N.C. Jensen Kj

So far as I can tell, my chair is identical to this one: https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/seating/chairs/early-mogens-koch-mk-16... Exact same wood, same brass caps, similar thickness to and wear on the leather.. They say this chair is 1930-39. So that's my source, though I'm not sure how reliable it is.

From reading around, it sounds like there were several prototypes made before it went into mass production, experiments with the design, I guess. So while it's possible that both this and the others were protyped in the 30s, it sounds like, not this, but the others were picked up for later manufacturing. That the others were produced later does not mean that they too wern't also protyped in the 30s.

The financial conflict of interest in your source of information makes it rather likely the entire story was designed for maximum financial benefit without regard for truth.

Well, it's certainly good to find another example, which can lead to additional info about your chair. While no marks were posted in the listing, perhaps you could contact the dealer to see if they saw any before it was sold.

From an attribution perspective, having a sales listing claim a specific designer/manufacturer without verifiable evidence is worthless. Many dealers are either 1) clueless, 2) willfully ignorant on questionable attributions, 3) make assumptions about attributions, or 4) intentionally continue incorrect attributions based upon other incorrect attributions already floating around online. Read this "Martin Borenstein" thread for an interesting/entertaining read about online attributions.

https://www.designaddict.com/forum/Identification/Dillingham-Esprit-and-M...

While I do not know who manufactured your chair, I do know the four documented Danish manufacturers who were authorized to make them: 1) N.C. Jensen Kj

On a whim, I contacted Carl Hansen and they are in the process of authenticating it (or invalidating it!). I'll let you know what they say.

Great! Carl Hansen sounds like a pretty solid source.

I need to correct an earlier statement. There was a fifth authorized Danish manufacturer, Cado. The details of this chair also look the same as the other four, with "Cado" taking the manufacturer spot on the brass plaque. Cado does not seem to get mentioned with the other manufacturers in most documentation on this chair. The DFI does include them.

This is purely a guess on my part, but seeing as Cado bought up France and Son and took over production of some of their lines for a while, perhaps they also bought up Interna when things went south for the latter.

So I heard back from Carl Hansen and this is the reply: "We sent the photos to the Denmark headquarters and they are unable to confirm that these are 100% original. No one has seen this brass cap before.

Also, Carl Hansen has only been producing this chair for the past few years

And here's another I found with the same wood (they say dark-stained oak) and the same brass caps but in brown leather. At least they cite a source: Lit.: N. Oda, Danish Chairs, Tokyo 1999, p. 38, which I just ordered through the library. And even a specialist!

There is no link...

The Noritsugu Oda literature reference just means that the seller is either incompetent or misrepresenting. The Mogens Koch chair in the book is real one.

Oops. Here's the link: https://www.dorotheum.com/en/auctions/current-auctions/kataloge/list-lot...

Are you suggesting that the source is a good one but that the use of the source is illegitimate, presumably because the picture in the book does not correspond to the item?

What do you think of the expert?!

Oda knows more about Danish Modern chairs that almost anyone else on the planet. Both his Danish Chairs and Hans Wegner books are excellent additions to a collector's library.

What leif is saying is that the seller is using a legit book reference to attribute to his chair, based on similarity of appearance, not authenticity of production. It would be the equivalent of a sidewalk seller referencing a fine watches book for the "Rolexes" hanging inside his coat.

I'm not stating that your chair is 100% certain vintage knockoff, but rather it was not made by known authorized Danish manufacturers based upon significant detail variances. Usually items that fall in this category tend to be (but not always) vintage knockoffs. It would be quite interesting to find evidence that this chair version is legitimate. Neither speculation nor sales listings count as evidence.

And whoever paid over $2k in that link just threw a lot of money down the drain. That would be a perfect segment on Antiques Roadshow where the appraiser gives a great history rundown of the chair design, only to provide the owner with the bad news at the end.