Four dining room chairs with original black vinyl upholstery. The chair has a sturdy wooden design frame, light in color. The seat and backrest are firm, and still have good padding. This set was bought in the 1960s, after which it was used in the kitchen of a couple from Drenthe for six decades. It is vintage furniture (not to be confused with retro) of mid-century (modern) design. A wonderful opportunity to explain this terminology.
The meaning of the word vintage according to Van Dale: ‘objects that are fashionable because of their old-fashioned appearance’. Further searching learns more detail about the word. As a noun (French origin) it is also used to indicate that the wine or port is made from grapes from an exceptionally good vintage. As an adjective (English origin) I also find the use of the term further specified, namely referring to clothing or objects of good quality from the period between ca. 1920 and 1980 (www.woorden.org).
Since this is a set of chairs that was actually made in the 1960s, it is vintage. The term retro is used for objects that are based on objects from the 1960s and 70s in terms of material use, design and style. The design can be translated to modern wishes in terms of functionality or taste (decorative). Vintage furniture is also referred to as retro (for marketing purposes), retro as vintage is out of the question.
Other terms associated with this set are mid-century (modern) design. This movement refers to the period 1935-1965 in which furniture was designed from natural materials such as wood and leather combined with copper, brass or gold. Since the Northern European countries led the way, it is also known as Scandinavian design.
This set uses wood in combination with skai. Skai was originally a brand name for artificial leather that was launched on the market in 1958 by the German company Konrad Hornschuch AG. Skai has now become a generic name, a synonym for artificial leather (Van Dale).
The set is in good condition, two small damages to the leather, see photos.
140 each, 500 for the set.
