Philip Arctander Clam Chair, Denmark 1944

A vintage “Clam” lounge chair designed by Philip Arctander, Denmark, 1944. The chair has a solid birch wooden frame with club feet and looped armrests and has been newly reupholstered with lamb skin and deep set buttons covered with leather. Originally designed for Nordisk Staal & MöBel Central, the chairs has also been produced under licence by Vik & Blindheim Sykkylven in Norway and Sune Johansson’s Möbelfabrik in Nässjö.

Much mystery has surrounded the designer of this chair model. It had been widely attributed to Viggo Boesen or Martin Olsen. The Norwegian National Museum listed the model as designed by Martin Olsen and manufactured by Vik & Blindheim in the 1950s. Recent research confirmed that the correct attribution for the design of this chair belongs to the architect Philip Arctander. The Arctander family has reached out to architect Poul Erik Skriver, a friend of Philip’s and a fellow member of a resistance group during World War II, and he has confirmed that Philip Arctander designed this popular model. There is little documentation available, but the Danish periodical ‘Nyt tidskrift for Kunstidustri’ writes in 1944 of a forthcoming opening of the store NY Form A/S in which the company requested six architects to submit proposals for new furniture models. Additionally, all of the chairs submitted would be displayed in the new store. A later issue, from 1945, illustrates several of the models, including this enigmatic chair, and mentions Philip Arctander as one of the designers. It is this history, combined with a few references published in the late 40s and the confirmation from the Arctander family and Poul Erik Skriver that at last provides the proper attribution for this design. Literature: LP-nyt, issue 43, March 1945, p. 356 for an example of this chair model in the version without armrests.