Safari Armchair In Cognac Leather By Wilhelm Kienzle

Safari armchair by Wilhelm Kienzle, Swiss edition Wohnbedarf, early 1950s. Light oak frame, seat, back, and armrests upholstered in thick leather with saddle stitching. The backrest can be reclined using a wing nut. The woodwork has been cleaned, sanded, and varnished. The leather has been cleaned and conditioned in several stages by saturation, revealing a deep and even cognac patina. H 82 cm × W 54 cm × D 65 cm. Designed in 1928 by Wilhelm Kienzle, the Safari chair has become a lasting icon of modernist furniture. An example is held in the permanent collection of the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein. The model shown here is made of solid golden oak and features a seat, back, and armrest straps in raw leather. The thick leather, saddle-stitched and fastened with copper and brass buckles and fittings, ensures both durability and aesthetic appeal. In his analysis of the chair held at the Vitra Design Museum, Claude Lichtenstein notes that this collapsible model was inspired by a type of seat used in the 19th century by British colonial officials, which Kienzle had observed in London in 1928. Lightweight and compact, it rests on a non-self-supporting structure: the legs are connected by round bars inserted into the open seam of the seat cover, while leather straps stretched between the legs absorb the lateral load. The movable backrest is fixed by pivoting, and the leather armrests are held in place by brass buttons. During the interwar period, other designers, notably Kaare Klint, offered similar interpretations. Kienzle's model, however, does not appear to have been mass-produced until after 1945, by the Swiss firm Wohnbedarf. In the post-war era, the Safari chair became the embodiment of a free and nonconformist lifestyle. See this cognac leather Safari armchair by Wilhelm Kienzle in full screen on Vintage Addict