Danish Cord Chair Seats-Wednesday Wicker Wisdom

A while ago, a friend gave me a set of eight modern painted chairs with 3-ply, Danish cord seats.

When he described them over the phone, I thought they were mid-century Danish Modern chairs from the 1940s to the 1950s, similar to the photo collage below.

Danish cord chair seat collage — Mid-Century Danish Modern Cord Chair Seat (woven around nails)

Perhaps they were made by Hans Weger, Carl Hansen & Son, Moller, or Børge Mogensen. Wouldn’t that be a great freebie?

But when I picked them up, I discovered these seats were woven with Danish cord, but not in the traditional Danish style, with the cord woven around the nails on the underside of the seat.

Gio Ponti-style Danish cord chair seats

Each chair seat in these two sets was woven with Danish cord, but in an Italian design pattern for the Gio Ponti-style chair seats, instead. I was not familiar with this weave and had never seen it before.

There were two sets of four chairs each; one set was painted green, and the other was painted yellow. What a deal, huh?

Matching set of four yellow and four green Gio Ponti Danish cord seat chairs.

I already had a set of four modern red chairs that were woven with a light, almost white Danish cord in a checkerboard pattern.

The picture below shows the red chair set after I rewove the seats with a red-and-white twill pattern, using Shaker tape.

Set of four, matching Gio Ponti style chairs with red and white twill Shaker tape seats.

Based on the phone description he gave me, of the set of eight before I saw them, I thought they’d all be identical to the red set I already had.

What a wonderful, large, complete set the additional chairs would make, I thought.

Danish Cord Seats Differ in Pattern

Whoa! Hold the phone there. When I got all the chairs together, I realized that although these chair sets were similar, they were not exactly the same.

My idea of a large, complete matching set (with the four sets of red, green, and yellow chairs) just flew out the window.

The new set had four back slats, and the old set had three. The seats are narrower on the new set, and the old set has a much wider seat. The new set has bulb-shaped tips on the front legs, while the old set has none.

Red Gio Ponti-style chair with checkerboard Danish cord woven seat. — Danish cord seat woven in a checkerboard pattern

And although the seats on both sets are woven in Danish cord, they are not the same in color or pattern.

typical Danish cord woven seat — Danish cord woven in an Italian pattern on Gio-Ponti chair seat

But all is not lost! Once these are all reglued and the seats are rewoven, I can split them up into three sets of four chairs each and sell them in sets of four! Problem solved.

Important takeaway note on Danish cord seats:

Before I saw these chairs together, I thought they were all identical. And I’ve been at this chair seat weaving restoration biz for many, many years and am knowledgeable about a lot of stuff.
But yet, I was mistaken about the color of the Danish cord, the size and designs of the chair frames, and the pattern of the woven seat!
So, can you imagine how difficult it is for a restoration expert or specialist to determine what type of chair seat weaving you need done to your chair when you’re just talking to them on the phone?
See how important it might be for you as a customer to be very specific about the type of chair, its pattern, and material when arranging for a chair caning expert to make the repairs on your furniture?
To avoid confusion, be sure to send lots of pictures to the repair person before taking your chair to their shop. Send pictures of the top, bottom, and full shot of the chair itself, with a close-up of the seat.
Once the repair person knows what type of materials are needed, he can place the order with the supply company, unless he already has enough on hand.