Midcentury Fredrik Kayser Sofa Model 860 for Vatne Møbelfabrikk 1960s, Norway

Fredrik A. Kayser’s light, graceful, ultra-functional chairs, credenzas and dining room tables made him one of the foremost Scandinavian modern creators of his time. An apprentice-level carpenter by trade, he had his first design mass-produced at the young age of 15, foreshadowing a glorious future in the furniture industry.

Rastad Relling, in Oslo, gave Kayser his start in furniture design straight out of the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry (now the Oslo National Academy of the Arts) in 1945. After a failed attempt to open his own factory, the young but determined designer returned to his former employer and stayed until 1956, when he successfully exited to launch a design studio. He offered freelance design services, created pieces for furnituremaker Viken Møbelfabrikk and collaborated with Knut Sæter, of armchair manufacturer Vatne Lenestolfabrikk.

Kayser and Sæter’s furniture was efficiently made to be packed flat, shipped and assembled at its destination. Introducing this innovative design to the world at the export fair in Helsingør in 1958, the pair found it well received. The partnership between Kayser and Sæter lasted until Kayser’s untimely death a decade later.

Kayser’s mid-century modern pieces won accolades. In 1960, the iconic, streamlined Model 711 series won first prize in the Industry Council for Furniture and Furnishing Industry’s chair competition. And the Model 108 easy chair, created in 1965, won the Award for Design Excellence in 1968 and found fame at the Collection Price Furniture Fair in Oslo in 1983. Many of his pieces are still in production today, including rosewood and teak easy chairs and high-backed lounge chairs.

Find vintage Fredrik A. Kayser seating, tables and case pieces on 1stDibs.