Beautiful shaped and rare set of four dining chairs model Tönnestav designed by Kjell Richardsen and manufactured by Tynes Møbelfabrik, Denmark 1960. The chairs were produced for only a very short period of time in 1960 because of the case between Richardsen and Brattrud. These chairs are made of nicely formed teak veneered plywood slats and elegant chromed metal legs. These beautiful dining chairs seat also very comfortable due to the well-shaped plywood backrest. This set is in very good original condition and marked underneath the seat with a “Made in Norway” stamp. The chairs are priced and only for sale in the set of four. A real nice catch for any modern home, office or interior.

The resemblance of the Tønnestav chair with Hans Brattrud’s Scandia chair is obvious. It caused a bit of a stir in the Norwegian design community in 1960 when it became the cause of a court case between Richardsens manufacturers Tynes Møbelfabrikk and Hove Møbelfabrik, the manufacturer of Brattruds 1957 Scandia chair. Richardsen was accused of plagiarism. It should be added that Richardsen and Brattrud went to design school together in the 1950’s. Laminated bentwood was the new thing at the time and it seems quite likely that the original idea for both Tønnestav and Scandia could come from a common project. Nevertheless, Brattrud won the case and the Tønnestav chair, put in production in 1960, was taken out of production later the same year. Very few of these pieces were produced, which makes it a rare set -with a remarkable design history- that would work really well in any design collection.
The Norvegian museum Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design, has a “Lenestol’ from the Tønnestav series in their design collection (Identifier NMK.2008.0618).

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