8 Eichenberger Saffa Dining Chairs Dietiker & Stendig Black Vinyl Chrome Cane

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8 Eichenberger Saffa Dining Chairs Dietiker & Stendig Black Vinyl Chrome Cane

About the Item

Incredible set of eight (8) Saffa chrome steel, wicker, and black vinyl faux leather dining chairs designed by Hans Eichenberger, produced by Dietiker, and distributed in the U.S. by Stendig. They are in wonderful original vintage condition. Some small repairs have been made to the cane wrap but otherwise they have just been cleaned and retain their original beautiful patina. That patina includes color variation to the caning, some aging to the chrome, and padding worn down in seats. Please see photos, circa 1950s This gorgeous set of eight Swiss Mid-Century Modern dining chairs were designed in 1955 by the famed Hans Eichenberger. Called the Saffa chair it was produced by Dietiker in Switzerland and imported and sold in the United States by Stendig. It is purportedly Eichenberger’s favorite piece he created. It is comprised of two chrome-plated steel tubes which are intertwined to form the legs and arms of the chair. These two tubes are cane-wrapped together to form the back of the chair. The seat nests in between the two tubes and is covered in its original black faux leather vinyl. You know that old vinyl that you can’t tell whether it is leather or not. The patina on this set of chairs is phenomenal. You just cannot get the warm look of the cane wrap in a new chair. This set of eight will be incredible around any dining table you may have or find. Hans Eichenbrger was born in 1926 and is a furniture and interior designer based in Herrenschwanden, near Bern. The early 1950s, after training as a carpenter, took him to Paris where he was part of a dynamic cultural milieu that impacted his life and career significantly; and when he returned to Switzerland he began his undeniable impact on 20th century Swiss design history. He collaborated with Trix and Robert Haussmann, Kurt Thut, teo jakob, and Alfred Hablutzel under the name of Swiss Design, as well as Atelier 5. These collaborations and his design projects for Swiss National Bank, the Kunstmuseum Bern, and the SBB are linked to the making of modern Switzerland. His work is included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, and the Museum fur Gestaltung Zurich. He won many awards and influenced designers in multiple generations and is still going strong. Stendig was totally the brainchild and passion of Charles W. Stendig. You cannot write or talk about Stendig without explaining Charles. He was a pioneer of import goods in the mid-century. After serving in WWII as a paratrooper, he studied business with emphasis on international trade at NYU and City College of New York. Afterward first working for Raymor, another pioneering distribution company, for about two years, departing to start his own business: Stendig. He opened his first showroom in 1956 in midtown Manhattan. He is credited for sparking America’s interest in furniture from Finland, Switzerland, Italy, and Czechoslovakia. He imported from the likes of Thonet, Asko, and De Sede; and from iconic designers including Le Corbusier, Josef Hoffmann, Eero Aarnio, Tapio Wirkkala, Marcel Breuer, Jonathan De Pas, Donato D’Urbino, Paolo Lomazzi, Carlo Mollino, Carlo Scarpa, and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni to name just a few. By the late 1960’s, Stendig had showrooms in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco with a large headquarters in NYC. They were exciting and good times but short lived. The business was a challenge and when an offer was made by Burlington Industries to purchase, Charles agreed. He stayed on till 1976 to oversee and then retired. I have searched the internet to no avail to find out if a Stendig division is still in operation. But I can only find the Stendig Calendar, the only calendar in MoMA’s collection, which was designed for Stendig by Mossimo Vignelli, still offered. But I am having a hard time deciding who is creating and offering it. I do know Burlington Industries was bankrupt by 2001, purchased in 2003, merged with Cone Mills in 2004 and subsequently into ITG or International Textile Group. But the Stendig name reins as an icon of high style mid-century offerings. To have such a large set of these iconic original Mid-Century Modern chairs is practically unheard of. You must make them yours. Chair size: • Height 27.5 inches • Width 22.5 inches • Depth 20 inches • Arm height 25.5 inches • Seat height 17 inches • Inside seat width 18.75 inches • Inside back height 13.14 inches • Weight 12.8 pounds Crated size: • Height 58 inches • Width 58 inches • Depth 48 inches • Weight 295 pounds.

Creator:
Stendig Co. (Retailer),Dietiker (Maker),Hans Eichenberger (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 27.5 in (69.85 cm)Width: 22.5 in (57.15 cm)Depth: 20 in (50.8 cm)Seat Height: 17 in (43.18 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 8
Style:
Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Cane,Chrome,Faux Leather
Place of Origin:
Switzerland
Period:
1950-1959
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1950s
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. In wonderful original vintage condition. Small repairs were made to cane wrap but otherwise they have just been cleaned & retain original beautiful patina. That patina includes color variation to caning, aging to chrome, padding worn down. See Photos.
Seller Location:
Topeka, KS
Reference Number:
Seller: SLO-SEA-2951stDibs: LU1873319209982

Shop All Stendig Co.

Stendig Co.

Stendig Co. played a pivotal role in introducing modern European furniture to the American market, thanks to the business acumen of founder Charles Stendig.

Around 1950, the Brooklyn, New York–born Stendig (1924–2024) worked for Raymor, a purveyor of modern china and accessories that is best known for distributing designer Russel Wright’s American Modern line of ceramics. While at Raymor, Stendig focused on the company’s less popular pieces that were made in Italy and Scandinavia, recognizing their potential for the American market. In 1955, he left the company and decided to establish Stendig Co.

That year, a chance encounter with a Finnish trade representative led him to furniture company Asko — one of the largest companies operating in Scandinavia. Asko invited him and Joseph Carreiro, a professor at the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts), to help refine their designs.

At Asko’s production facility in Finland, Stendig met several renowned Finnish designers such as Ilmari Tapiovaara, Tapio Wirkkala and Eero Aarnio, the iconic Ball chair creator. Stendig’s trip there was a success, and Stendig Co. began importing Finnish furniture to the United States.

In 1956, the first Stendig Co. showroom opened in Manhattan. A year later, during a trip to Zurich, Stendig came across a Bauhaus–inspired furniture store featuring pieces by Swiss designers Kurt Thut, Hans Eichenberger and Robert Haussmann, the store’s co-owner. Following a meeting with Haussmann, Stendig became the retailer’s exclusive U.S. distributor.

Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, Stendig Co. imported and sold furniture from influential European designers, including Swiss designer Bruno Rey, Italian architect and industrial designer Vico Magistretti and Hungarian-American architect and designer Marcel Breuer, creator of the Wassily lounge chair.

By the late 1960s, Stendig Co. moved its headquarters to an expansive space on Manhattan’s East Side and opened showrooms in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago, each home to the company’s striking collection of mid-century European armchairs, sofas, dining room chairs, coffee tables and other furnishings. Stendig’s founder was by then representing Italian manufacturers Poltronova and Gufram and bringing revolutionary works of Italian Radical design to American shores.

In 1971, Charles Stendig sold the company to Burlington Industries. He retired in 1976. Today Stendig’s European imports are coveted by interior designers and vintage furniture collectors, and he will be forever known as the man who introduced modern European design to the United States.

Find a range of vintage Stendig Co. furniture on 1stDibs.