Safari chairs by Douglas Heaslet

When we opened the first Mid2Mod store in early 2011, we had a pair of yellow safari chairs that we couldn't identify. Over two years later, my SIL solved the mystery when he learned they were manufactured by Brown-Saltman.

Then yesterday I received an email from a man who gave me further information about the chairs. He said that it was his father, Douglas Heaslet, who designed the chairs, and he asked to be notified if we ever ran across another pair, since all he has of his father's work are memories.

Thanks to John Heaslet for providing the final piece to the puzzle.

Safari chairs by Douglas Heaslet for Brown-Saltman

In the store: Chairs and more chairs

The showroom floor is suddenly chock-full of chairs. And not just any old chairs either. Take a look at this fabulous array of seating that we have now. It's hard to choose favorites.

Milo Baughman scoop chairs for Thayer Coggin

Arne Norell safari chairs in leather and rosewood

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Chrome lounge chairs attributed to Milo Baughman

Ole Wanscher chairs for Poul Jeppesen (set of 2 armchairs and 6 side chairs)

Gideon Kramer Ion chair (set of 6)

In the store: Kaare Klint safari chairs

A remarkable pair of safari chairs designed by Kaare Klint are the latest addition to the store's seating selection. These beautiful pieces are made of leather and canvas on an oak frame and were originally purchased in Denmark.

Identified! Finally.

Sometimes the identification process takes a long time. Years, even.

Back in March of 2011...the day before we opened the first store on Exposition...I posted about some beautiful yellow safari chairs we'd found. We had no idea who designed or manufactured them. We just knew they were cool. They sold quickly, but we never forgot those chairs or stopped wondering what they were. Some pieces stick with you like that.

These safari chairs remained a mystery for over two years.

Yesterday I got a phone call from my SIL. All he said was, "Finally..." When I asked him what he meant, he refused to explain and told me to check my email.

He had sent me a link to an eBay listing that positively identifies the chairs as Brown-Saltman. The chairs on eBay have their original tags, putting to rest all our wild guesses. I immediately went to my old post and corrected the "Danish safari chairs" caption. Ooops! What newbies we were back then!

Brown-Saltman safari chairs
ebay.com -- retro-redemption

Brown-Saltman tags on black safari chairs
ebay.com -- retro-redemption

It took a while to solve this mystery, but I think it's safe to close the books on it, once and for all.

Help!

Someone recently posted about this safari chair...though it may have been in black. Do you remember whose post it was...or anything about the designer?

Update - July 7, 2013: Sometimes the process is slow, but pieces can usually be identified. The mystery is finally solved about the pair of chairs like this one that we had in the store. See this post.