Wegner’s Valet Chair: (L) Image courtesy of The Selby, (R) Image courtesy of iCollector
The Valet Chair is a somewhat overlooked classic of mid-20th Century design by Hans Wegner (1914-2007), the Danish designer who created some of the century’s best-known furniture. Its somewhat whimsical-seeming form is in fact quite practical: the back is shaped like a hanger to hold a jacket, and the seat flips up to hold a pair of pants and, in the trough below the seat, wallet, keys, cuff-links and what ever else may otherwise might be scattered about one’s bedroom. Wegner no doubt noticed the tendency to hang a jacket on the back of a chair and throw the day’s clothes on top (a tendency that might also offend a designer of chairs!).
Made of oak and teak with leather and brass details, the Valet Chair might indeed be a practical solution for many a masculine chamber, but the chair doesn’t come cheap. New pieces, produced by Danish furniture maker PP Møbler, start at $7,200. Vintage specimens made by Johannes Hansen, the original manufacturing firm, regularly fetch closing bids in the low five-figure range. One such original sold last year at Chicago’s Wright auction house for a cool $21,600 (the estimate was $9,000–12,000, hinting that buyers are eager for vintage Valet Chairs).
If you aren’t willing to invest quite so much for a place to throw your clothes, perhaps a better option would be Design Within Reach’s Field Chair ($65 at DWR, image source the same). Still a worthy place to toss your stuff, the stool also features wood with brass accents, but with a flexible thick leather seat and carrying strap, as this one is modeled after the portable Campaign furniture of the British Empire. Whether you’re a Colonial Brit or a city dweller short on space you’ll appreciate that this seat can be folded up and put away when not in use. It’s surprisingly comfortable as a place to perch (though not, admittedly, for longer periods of time), it will make a great extra seat when you have one too many guests at your next cocktail party. I suspect that Valet Chair owners are not quick to offer their prized possession as an extra seat in a pinch!
More information on new Valet Chair can be found at PP Møbler. It can be purchased in the U.S. from dkVogue. More information on the Field Chair is at Design Within Reach.
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