Danish Teak Easy Chair by Tove Edvard Kindt-Larsen Model FD-117

Danish manufacturer France Søn is best known for its prolific output of elegant mid-century modern furnishings in teak and leather, yet its multinational beginnings took shape during the 1930s.

After businessman Charles William Fearnley France (1897–1972) moved from his native England to Denmark in 1936, he began to operate a small mattress factory alongside his friend Eric Daverkosen, a Danish cabinetmaker, under the name France Daverkosen. Shortly afterward, Daverkosen passed away, and when Denmark was invaded during the Second World War, Charles was captured and sent to a prison camp in Germany. When he was released, the British entrepreneur set out to produce furniture in the early 1950s, setting up a shop in Hillerød to manufacture the kind of sleek beech and teak goods that were gaining widespread acclaim around the world. In 1957, France’s son James joined the business, and the company changed its name to reflect the addition.

Throughout the ’50s and ’60s, France Søn produced a stunning array — and staggering quantity — of designs, with elegant modernist lounge chairs and armchairs, teak and rosewood dining tables and other furnishings by the likes of Finn Juhl, Grete Valk, Ole Wanscher, Peter Hvidt and Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen all gracing its catalogues.

Even as there was a focus on mass production at France Søn — and the brand doesn’t quite enjoy the same renown as fellow mid-century Danish furniture makers such as Carl Hansen Søn — Charles France believed in making quality furniture, and the company’s offerings evoke the warmth of the handcrafted work that is typically associated with Scandinavian modernism.

In the 1960s, the company was bought by Danish designer Poul Cadovius, who folded it into the operations at CADO, a company he founded during the 1950s. Surviving examples of early work from the brand as well as modern icons by the likes of Verner Panton that followed in later years continue to be in demand.

Find a collection of France Søn furniture on 1stDibs.

Together, Tove Edvard Kindt-Larsen helped usher in the golden era of Scandinavian modern furniture design through their significant involvement with the Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibitions from the 1930s through the ’70s.

Married in 1937, Tove and Edvard Kindt-Larsen (1906–94; 1901–82) etched out names for themselves independently and as a pair. Tove was one of the first female designers to come to the fore during Denmark’s rise in furniture production. She studied under the legendary Kaare Klint at the Department of Furniture Design at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts years after she started working in the industry.

Edvard received great recognition for his large hotel project by the lakes in Copenhagen and his house in Klampenborg, which he designed in 1962. Edvard was awarded the Eckersberg Medal from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1949 for his work as an architect.

While both were skilled designers — the couple’s coffee tables, armchairs and other pieces for France Søn, Seffle Möbelfabrik and more are widely collected today — Edvard and Tove’s greatest contribution is undoubtedly their involvement with the Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibitions. The shows they assembled were integral to putting Danish design on the map, with Edvard serving as head of the exhibitions from 1943 to ’66. During this period, mid-century Danish design truly took off in the United States — when Scandinavia’s simple, curvilinear wooden furniture, home goods and textiles suddenly seemed the perfect foil for glass-and-steel skyscrapers. 

Together, the pair organized events that ignited collaborations between big-name Danish designers such as Hans J. Wegner and Johannes Hansen, Finn Juhl and Niels Vodder, Ole Wanscher and A.J. Iversen, Jacob Kjær and Peder Moos, and more. 

The guild provided a platform for the designers to showcase their now-iconic works, including Wegner’s Round chair, the rustic and recognizable Hunting chair and Spanish chair — both created by Børge Mogensen — and Finn Juhl’s Chieftain chair, 46 chair and 46 sofa. 

Find antique Tove Edvard Kindt-Larsen side tables, lounge chairs, case pieces and other furniture on 1stDibs.