Jonas Forth's surprising facts about Finnish design

While tooling around the Interwebs the other day, I ran across a list called 20 Surprising Facts about Finnish Design Icons, written by Jonas Forth. To be more accurate, there are 24 surprising facts, because Jonas was apparently feeling generous the day he compiled the list.

I'm only going to tease you with a few of them, because I want you to go to his site and let him tell the rest of the stories.

From jonasforth.com


The iconic Fiskars scissors by Olof Bäckström were meant to be red, green or black but due to the production manager using what was left in the moulding machine from making plastic juice pressers, some of them turned out orange. They took a vote and orange won 9-7.

The metal holder that surrounds the glass in Timo Sarpaneva’s Tsaikka series was made from recycled zipper waste. His brother Pentti, who made jewellery, experimented with similar ideas.

The best way to identify a real Aalto 60 stool is by how the screws are attached to the bottom of the base. They’ve basically been made the same way since 1933.

New take on an old design

Artek has come out with a Special Edition of the #401 chair by Alvar Aalto, originally designed in 1932. Hella Jongerius provides a new take in bright colors and new finishes.

New special edition by Hella Jongerius of the #401 chair by Alvar Aalto for Artek
azuremagazine.com

artek.fi

designapplause.cm

jongeriuslab.com

jongeriuslab.com

Here is one of the original raffia-covered versions, which we have in our store. Except for a minor amount of wear to the front corners of the seat, this pieces is in amazingly good condition. Although I like the new colors on the Jongerius chairs, I can't help but have a special place in my heart for the uniqueness of this vintage piece's raffia upholstery.

mid2mod.com

Artek Stool 60

Artek, the company founded in 1935 by Alvar Aalto and his wife Aino, along with Maire Gulichsen and Nils-Gustav Hahl, is celebrating the 80th anniversary of Stool 60. The stackable stool was designed in 1933 by Alvar Aalto and features three bent legs and a round seat.

The design, which has been available in birch veneer, white laminate and black linoleum, is now also available in orange, green, yellow, turquoise, black and white lacquer, inspired by the colors used in Alto's Paimio Sanatorium.

If you have ever been involved in the debate over whether or not it's a sacrilege to paint vintage furniture, you might be interested in the concept store launched in 2011 called Artek 2nd Cycle, which showcases the company's own reclaimed vintage pieces. Juhani Lemmetti, the founder of Artek 2nd Cycle, said, "Finns often repaint several times over that most popular Arted item--Stool 60--in the latest trendy hues, thereby extending its life cycle."

From artek.fi, midcenturymagazine.com, sharedesign.com

80th Anniversary Stool 60
artek.fi

design-milk.com

artek.fi

artek.fi

I.C.F., Inc.

A few months ago we found an Alvar Aalto Paimio chair on Craigslist. We knew it was a wonderful piece, but we weren't sure how old it was, since the design is still in production by Artek, the Finnish company founded in 1935 by Aalto, his wife Aino, and their friends Maire Gullichsen and Nils-Gustav Hahl.

We did some preliminary research on the piece, but we got busy opening the store, and we never followed up. Today a customer emailed, asking for additional information about the chair, so we finally got back to our search. He specifically asked about any labels that might still be intact, and my SIL found one marked I.C.F. that we weren't sure about.

The company is still in business but had no Paimio chairs on their website. Only when we used "Artek" and "I.C.F." as search terms did we get the full picture.  It turns out that I.C.F., Inc. was started in 1962 and was the first American company to distribute furniture designed by European architects. They started with Alvar Aalto's designs in 1962. In the 70s they added pieces by Arne Jacobsen. I.C.F. is still the American distributor for Fritz Hansen, Artek, and Thonet, among others, although it appears that they only distributed the Paimio chair from 1962-1986. While that doesn't give us a definitive date, it certainly narrows the time frame.

Our Alvar Aalto "Paimio" chair

And he scores...in a crazy roundabout way

My son-in-law Joe is a great Craigslist shopper. He has a CL alert app on his phone, so he's notified as soon as new listings go up, and he frequently sends me links to his latest finds, asking what I know about the piece.

Yesterday he found an amazing Alvar Aalto Paimio armchair for $40. The seller told him that her late husband bought the chair from the MoMA store several years ago. I'm in the process of trying to track down when it was sold there and how much it cost at the time. The Paimio chair, which I featured in a post about Aalto just a few days ago, is still manufactured today by Artek, the company in Finland started in 1935 by Alvar and Aino Aalto, Maire Gullichsen and Nils-Gustav Hahl.  It retails new for $3,750 from online stores like FinnStyle and YLiving. 1st Dibs has a 1980s model listed for $1550.

Here's the picture from the listing. Joe had a phone conversation with the seller last night, and he's going to pick up the chair tonight after work. Chalk up a major score for my wonderful SIL!

Alvar Aalto Paimio chair...a major Craigslist find!

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UPDATE: My SIL called and rousted me out of bed this morning, and he was upset!  He awoke to an email from the seller of the Aalto chair, saying she had received an offer for $120 for the chair and was having a hard time turning it down, even though she had given him her word that she would delete the ad and sell only to him.

As soon as he got her email, he jumped into his car, screeched out of the driveway and headed her direction, calling her on the way to tell her he'd match the offer and calling me to vent. I finally heard back from him, and while he still wasn't thrilled that she reneged on their deal, things actually worked out fine. Rather than use the indignant buyer approach, he decided to turn on all the charm he could muster, which is considerable, since he's an outgoing, good-looking guy. I guess it did the trick, because she repeatedly apologized to him, even as she was telling him a long, personal story about why she needed the extra cash. When he handed her the $120, she told him she'd throw in a really nice Cantoni bar and two pneumatic bar stools free because she felt bad about upping the price. He quickly calculated that he could sell the bar set for a lot more than the extra $80 he had to pay for the chair, and while he still can't quite figure out her line of reasoning, it was crystal clear to him at the time that he'd better squeeze everything into his car and speed away before she changed her mind again, which he did post-haste.

Ah, Craigslist...In addition to getting some really great bargains, you have to deal with some real characters. I guess that's part of the excitement.

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On a saner note, he and Jenn picked up these green leather swivel chairs last night ...just because they're funky and were reasonably priced. The seller described them as La Tour 1887 Eiffel chairs, but that doesn't turn up anything on Google. Anyone know anything about them?

The latest Mystery Chairs