ManufacturerDanish
Fritz Hansen
7 active items
Fritz Hansen's history is inseparable from the story of Danish modern furniture. When the master cabinetmaker Fritz Hansen obtained his trade licence in Copenhagen in 1872, he began a company that would become the manufacturing partner behind some of the most significant furniture designs of the twentieth century. The early decades focused on high-quality cabinetmaking, but the decisive turn came in the 1930s and 1940s when the company invested in bent plywood and later moulded foam technologies that made entirely new forms possible.
The partnership with Arne Jacobsen produced the company's most famous pieces. The Ant chair (1952), Fritz Hansen's first industrially manufactured chair, demonstrated that a single piece of pressure-moulded veneer could form both seat and back. It was stackable, lightweight, and could be produced in volume. The Series 7 (1955), a refinement of the Ant with a fuller seat shape and four legs, became by some accounts the best-selling chair in furniture history. Then came the commissions for the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen (1958-1960), for which Jacobsen designed the Egg and the Swan. Both were revolutionary: the Egg's enveloping shell was sculpted first in clay at Jacobsen's home before being translated into moulded foam on a swivelling base; the Swan eliminated straight lines entirely, its organic curves made possible by Fritz Hansen's newly acquired Styropor casting technology.
Beyond Jacobsen, Fritz Hansen has produced designs by Poul Kjaerholm (whose collection the company acquired), Hans J. Wegner, Cecilie Manz, and Kasper Salto, among others. The company rebranded as Republic of Fritz Hansen in 2000 before returning to the simpler name.
At Nordic auction, Fritz Hansen furniture appears through houses including Palsgaard Kunstauktioner (which handles the largest share), Woxholt Auktioner, Bukowskis, and Stockholms Auktionsverk. Upholstered lounge pieces command the highest prices, with a model 1668 sofa reaching 35,800 SEK and a model 1672 armchair at 35,000 SEK. With 183 items on Auctionist and 8 currently active, the market is dominated by chairs and armchairs, reflecting the company's identity as first and foremost a seating manufacturer.