Compared with the pair of chairs on lot. no. 996, this model is without bamboo stretcher underneath the seat and with a minimalistic, sweeping frame without cross-stretchers.

Literature: Mobilia august 1963, variant of model ill. Literature: “Kunsthaandværkets forårsudstilling 1952” (exhibition catalogue), variant of model ill. p. 35.

Laurids Lønborg was born in Shanghai, China, in 1917. The son of a Scottish/Chinese mother and a Danish father, he became a Danish citizen and left the family in Shanghai to travel to Denmark to do his military service in 1937. He started his wickerwork business in Denmark during the war, producing straw hats and traditional Christmas bucks. After a few years, he had a team of women producing the wickerwork, and the Christmas bucks were replaced by cane furniture and utility objects in black iron with round pith lashing. In the early 1950s, he began a collaboration with architect Grete Jalk, who designed a chair and a stool with a light iron frame. The chair was exhibited at Kunsthaandværket’s spring exhibition in 1952 and produced in limited numbers. The dining chair version was in use in the home of Jørn Utzon, among others. Although the chair was not a sales success at the time, Laurids Lønborg’s business continued to grow steadily. Working with Danish and Swedish designers, over the next 20 years he produced several bestsellers for the export markets: figurines, candlesticks, storage tins, trays and home textiles in colourful designs, and not least “Champagnebrusen” (The Champagne fizz”, a kinetic ball sculpture on a black iron base, which found its way into the home of none other than Pablo Picasso. Exporting to more than 50 countries, Laurids Lønborg was a pioneer of Danish arts and crafts. Grete Jalk and Laurids Lønborg remained in contact over the years and enjoyed long-standing correspondence. Grete Jalk was the architect and consultant in connection with the interior design of Laurids Lønborg’s new home in Østerbro in the late 1950s.