Danish-Cord Chairs
Danish-Cord Chairs (Sold as a Pair)
These are two fully beautifully restored vintage Mid-Century Modern ladder-back accent chairs that could easily find use in your dining room or kitchen. This classic style chair is similar to designs from the famed Italian designer Gio Ponti with its slim legs, delicate lines and small ball feet; it weighs next to nothing. I refinished the frame which is made from solid walnut. More significantly, I painstakingly and completely rewove each of the Danish-Cord seats from scratch.
For those unfamiliar with Danish-Cord, it is one of three types of woven seats you will find. Two types were originally sourced from natural plant materials: rush and cane. Naturals grasses were harvested and prepared for the skilled handwork necessary for weaving. Danish-Cord, yes made in Denmark, is actually made from paper twisted into rope-like cordage, as is most rush used in today’s furniture (rush=think of the seats you see in early American ladderback chairs). And today cane can be found in large pre-woven sheets made of synthetic plastic (yuk), requiring no weaving skills at all to replace a broken seat.
Not so with Danish-Cord -- skill and time is required. A lot. Luckily, I found another virtual mentor in Ed Hammond of Peerlessrattan.com. Peerless Rattan is the oldest mail order and retail store for caning and weaving supplies, opening for business in 1903. Ed and his wife Cindy have owned it since 2007 and they have produced a multitude of “How To” videos that are absolutely magnificent. Watching them is like stepping back in time. And they were invaluable in teaching me how to repair the rush footstool I had inherited from my Mom, as well as restore these Danish-Cord chairs. Check out their Facebook page for many Before/After examples from happy customers.
The key to my success was taking a lot of pictures of the seat before completely removing it so I had a visual record of the correct number of wraps and the specific pattern I needed to replicate. Ed’s videos were super helpful in how to set things up properly for the pattern to end evenly, and he shared many useful tips of the trade to maintain cord tension and keep the rows compacted and straight. Lessons learned: Working with Danish-Cord and rush are rough on your hands: your skin will abrade (wear thin gloves), and your fingers and wrists will start cramping after a couple hours (take frequent breaks and stretch those muscles!). The finished seats are traditionally left natural although some people choose to apply a coat of shellac (I have not). I think the result looks pretty good.
It was hard to place a price on these chairs. I confess I did not pay a lot for them and structurally only a couple joints needed regluing. However, while the Danish-Cord cost was modest (albeit more than I expected to pay for just paper), the real cost was the significant time investment in weaving the seats. I usually like to check the “sold” prices on Internet vintage furniture web sites just as a reference and found prices for this exact chair averaging $150-300 per chair in fair to good “as-is,” not restored, condition. I also don’t want to split up the pair; single chairs do not sell well. Thus, I’m selling the fully restored chairs as a pair for $200.
A final note: I am posting these chairs for sale at the same time as I am offering a drop leaf gate leg dining table, the top finished in General Finishes Java stain with painted black legs. The scale and beauty of the table is a perfect match for these two chairs. Where else in the world could you find such a beautifully restored dining table and two chairs for under $400 besides MCH Furniture Restoration?!! Anybody renovating their kitchen or dining room in 2022?
Dimensions: H 36” x W 15 x D 15” Seat Height 19”