The chair that was not designed by Martin Olsen

With its organic shapes and soft curves, the chair is very much in keeping with the current high demand for modern furniture with the right vintage look. The chair is even considered by some as one of the most attractive chairs when it comes to “Nordic Design”. The name Martin Olsen has become a brand in itself, and the chair achieves sky-high prices on the international auction market.  

A misunderstanding occurs

Before achieving its star status a few years ago, the chair would pop up every so often at minor Danish auctions. It was listed as being of unknown origin and sold for the modest price of around DKK 1,500 (€ 200).

However, in c. 2008, the price of the chair began to rise. Due to its similarity to “Den lille Petra” (Little Petra) chair, it was now listed as designed by the Danish architect Viggo Boesen, contributing to its soaring price. With our in-depth knowledge of Boesen’s design, we stuck with the chair’s “unknown origin” here at Bruun Rasmussen – right up until the Norwegian National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design proclaimed on its website that the chair was designed by Norwegian Martin Olsen and manufactured by the furniture company VIK & BLINDHEIM in the 1950s.

There was international consensus that this must be the truth about the chair. Partly because the name Martin Olsen was unknown, and partly because nobody else had a better suggestion. There was also a tendency for all furniture with this characteristic soft shape and club-shaped legs to be attributed to this Martin Olsen. At Bruun Rasmussen, we bowed to the information from the Norwegian National Museum and began to describe the chair as having been designed by the Norwegian designer.

In search of the truth about the chair’s origin

At our auction house, we consider ourselves to be experts on “Nordic design”, and it was therefore also a constant source of irritation that we knew so little about the coveted chair.

In connection with our current international auction in Copenhagen, a customer raised doubts about the origion of the chair. As a result, we carried out a detailed investigation. The conclusion is clear – the story of Martin Olsen is complete nonsense, fuelled by the massive international interest in the chair. There never was a Norwegian designer named Martin Olsen, and the name actually refers to a store in a suburb of Oslo named Skøyen, which neither designed nor produced furniture, but simply sold it. The store’s range included a chair named “Muslinge-stolen” (the clam chair), the name of the chair in question.

The trail leads to Denmark

Following our investigation, it is clear the chair is of Danish origin. Although there are extremely few references to the chair in literature, all the clues lead us to Denmark.

We are well aware that VIK & BLINDHEIM produced several pieces of Danish furniture over the years, but they acquired the licence to produce the chair in question from a Danish company in 1953.

Nine years earlier, in 1944, the chair was already exhibited in conjunction with the presentation of the newly opened furniture store NY FORM A/S in Copenhagen, which sold leading design of the day. This is evident from the Danish design magazine “LP-nyt” – shown here in a rare version without armrests. The same version is also seen in the Swedish magazine “Form” in 1947, in an article about the home of a Danish engineer. We managed to track down references to the more common version with armrests and a similar sofa in the Danish magazine “Bygge&Bo” (build and live) from 1945, in an ad for Nordisk Staal & Møbel Central (Nordic Steel & Furniture Central).

These sources indicate that the chair already existed in the 1940s and that it was probably designed as early as 1944, when it was first presented in a Danish store.

The designer behind the chair

Our attempts to identify the designer behind the chair have led us in one possible direction. In an article in “Nyt tidskrift for Kunstindustri” (new periodical on decorative art) in 1944, it was reported that, in connection with its opening, NY FORM A/S had asked six designers to come up with ideas for a furniture competition. A later issue of the magazine tells us that all the furniture from the competition was displayed in the store. The illustrations do not show the chair in question, but a bed and a stool by one of the designers taking part, Phillip Arctander from Denmark. This experimental furniture has the same organic shape as the much-debated chair, but neither the descendants of the owners of “NY FORM A/S” nor of Phillip Arctander have been able to confirm our assumption. So, for the time being, the trail goes cold here. 

Amended description

Based on our thorough research, the chair will be described at our future auctions as follows: “Unknown Danish designer: ‘Muslinge-stol’ (clam chair), designed 1944. Manufactured in the late 1940s for Nordisk Staal & Møbel Central.” Furniture previously attributed to Martin Olsen will now be described as by unknown designer. The Norwegian National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design has already removed the name Martin Olsen from its description of the chair, and we can only urge the rest of the international museum and auction world to do the same.

See the actual “Muslinge-stol” (clam chair) at auction

See a record of the sources used