Arne Vodder (b. 1926, d. 2009)
“Credenza”. Freestanding Brazilian rosewood sideboard on six round steel legs with rosewood shoes. Front with two reversible sliding doors with resp. rosewood and original blue paint. Middle section with seven drawers with curving handles and alternating white/yellow paint. Bar section with fold-down front, inside covered with black formica. Back fully veneered in rosewood. Model 29A. Designed 1958–1959. This example manufactured 1959 by Sibast Furniture. H. 80,5 cm. L. 250 cm. D. 47 cm.
Provenance: Private Danish collection.
A rare, early example with original blue paint on sliding doors.
When Arne Vodder designed this low sideboard he also presented what is probably the most loved and iconic piece of Danish storage furniture from the 1950–1960s. The model 29A was the flagship in a series of storage furniture that shared many of the same features. The series included chests of drawers, low sideboards and high cabinets. Recurring features were the drawers with curved and carved fronts, another was the option of reversible sliding doors coloured on one side, and with wood veneer on the other. Just as the option of “shadow” paint on parts of the drawers. There was also the choice between metal legs with wooden “shoes”, or a wooden leg frame. The series was made in two types of wood, rosewood and teak with the colours pale white and yellow available for the rosewood pieces and black for the teak pieces. However, some special orders were made with different colours. This example is one of the first pieces executed, acquired shortly after the model was released. The rare blue colour is probably a test, before the maker Sibast settled on white and yellow. The series was long-lived and enjoyed great success in Europe as well as on the US market. The name “Credenza”, which in Italian simply means cabinet for tableware, probably stuck to this model as this was one of the few pieces of Danish Mid-century furniture that enjoyed a real commercial success in Italy.
Literature: “Mobilia” no. 78, January 1962. Literature: “Bygge og Bo”, no. 3, September 1959, p. 5.
Condition report on request.
Items that are made of Brazilian rosewood or contain parts of it, require a CITES export permit in order to be exported from Denmark to a country outside The European Union. Buyers residing outside the European Union are required to obtain this permit.
Design: Nordic Masters, 27 September 2017