"Action Recliner 1" by Steen Ostergaard

Danish architect and industrial designer Steen Østergaard was decades ahead of his time with his futuristic Space Age designs. Through his innovative chairs, tables and other furniture, Østergaard elevated Scandinavian modern design during the mid-20th century.

Born in 1935, Østergaard studied furniture design and architecture at the School of Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen in 1957, graduating with honors in 1960. That same year, he won first prize in furniture design at the Danish Upholstery Guild’s annual awards, presented at Copenhagen’s Designmuseum Danmark.

From 1962 to 1965, Østergaard worked in the studio of revered furniture designer and architect Finn Juhl before establishing his own firm. Østergaard’s watershed moment came in 1968 when he created the iconic Cado 290 chair. Later produced in 1970 by Danish designer Poul Cadovius’s Cado company, the chair — a brilliant one-piece work of polyamide nylon reinforced with fiberglass by way of injection-molding — features an elegant form inspired by the stackable seats created by Danish designer Verner Panton, who started experimenting with the concept of single-piece plastic chairs in the late 1950s. However, unlike the revolutionary Panton chair, Østergaard’s design includes optional cushions that can be affixed directly onto the chair’s frame.

Another of Østergaard’s exemplary seating pieces is the President Meteor lounge chair designed in 1968 as part of Cado’s A-Line collection. The indoor and outdoor chair was originally produced in six colors — beige, brown, green, white, red and blue — and incorporates a molded plastic frame with a deep, upholstered seat. The lounge chair appeared in the original Star Trek television series and film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and was used at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Østergaard is also known for furnishings such as his molded plastic dining room chairs, patio and garden furniture and ergonomic club chairs. In 1981, he designed and constructed the first Action Recliner chair, which included a built-in footrest, a piece now replicated around the world.

Østergaard’s furniture has been featured in exhibitions throughout Europe and the United States, including at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Deutsches Museum in Munich and Designmuseum Danmark.

On 1stDibs, discover a range of vintage Steen Østergaard chairs and other furniture.

Bramin Møbler manufactured covetable Scandinavian modern furniture from the mid-1950s until the early 1980s. 

Originally founded as N.A. Jørgensen Møbelfabrik in Bramming, Denmark, the company rebranded as Bramin Møbler in the late 1950s. During the 1960s, Bramin Møbler’s offerings retained the simplicity and warmth commonly associated with Scandinavian cabinetmaking traditions and the N.A. Jørgensen Møbelfabrik name but its collaborations with forward-thinking designers helped steer it toward adopting the Danish modern style that had captivated new homeowners in the United States during the postwar years. 

Bramin Møbler prioritized quality, form and function — attributes that were promoted by the firm in its print ad campaigns. Its credenzas, dining tables and sideboards were made from strong, rich woods like oak, rosewood and teak (a highly prized material in the mid-century modern era), while its artisans upholstered the company’s durable seating with inviting materials such as wool and leather.

Bramin Møbler collaborated with many legends of Scandinavian and Nordic design, including Johannes Andersen, Hans Olsen, Kurt Østervig and Frank Reenskaug. Its most successful partnership was with Norwegian furniture designer H. W. Klein, who studied under Finn Juhl — a stylistic maverick and master of mid-century Danish design — and moved to Bramming to work for Bramin Møbler. 

Over the course of two decades, Klein created elegant coffee tables and cabinets for Bramin Møbler that featured clean lines and gracefully tapered legs, but he is best known for his lounge chairs — most notably, his leather-padded swivel lounger, with its five-spoked, wheeled base. 

The global recession of the 1980s hit Bramming hard. Many of the region’s numerous furniture manufacturers had to close their doors — Bramin Møbler included. Bramin Møbler creations remain highly sought after by collectors and enthusiasts of Scandinavian and mid-century modern furniture.

Find vintage Frank Reenskaug rocking chairs and other Bramin Møbler furniture such as tables, storage pieces and more for sale on 1stDibs.