This mid-century modern campaign chair, also known as a safari chair, was designed by Kaare Klint, the father of modern Danish furniture design. He is considered so because he adopted and applied German Bauhaus principles to his furniture designs and architectural work. Those fundamental ideas include making furniture according to the proportions and needs of the human body and using the best materials and craftspeople available.
The chair was produced by the furniture company Rud. Rasmussen. The concept is based on an old military campaign chair. The British military often used it and other campaign furniture, like chests of drawers and tables, in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Back then, you had to pack everything onto a horse or wagon, so portability was a key requirement. The straps unbuckle, and the wooden supports are easily disassembled. This idea of easily transportable military furniture is much older, dating back to Roman times.
I was delighted to see these chairs come into the shop, especially given their rich history. A customer had six of them that she wanted to restore. I’ve always wanted to build one, so this was an excellent opportunity to get some hints on how to design my own and help restore a vintage piece with a long pedigree.
Campaign furniture interests me from my background in woodworking. They are often quite cleverly designed because they were for officers. 19th-century makers were encouraged to design ‘unusual and interesting pieces’ to impress other officers and nobility.
Kaare Klint’s chair follows that lineage while incorporating his modern Danish sensibilities. It’s simple but also cleverly designed. All the pieces come apart easily; however, gone are the ornate mouldings from the old style. They have a pared-down form with rounder, more delicate edges intended for the living room rather than the battlefield.
The customer only wanted the straps repaired initially, so I set out to do just that. One concern we addressed was the straps’ tightness. The old straps were rather loose. It could be that the aging pieces were once tighter and had stretched. This led to a guest being dumped on the floor when the chair unexpectedly came apart while they were still in it. The rebuild included making the straps shorter. Taking the chair apart is much harder, but hopefully, they won’t ever have another guest unexpectedly fall out.
Many Kaare Klint Campaign Chairs are out there, and some of their restorations look like a mismatch of colors. The new straps’ color and the old wood don’t mesh well. Fortunately, the underside of these straps showed their original color, a natural veg-tan. I had some pieces that matched the color and thickness. The result has a fresh look that will age gracefully if the straps are better maintained and the chairs are stored in a safe place when not in use.
Aside: Balancing Old and New
The customer elected to keep the hardware as it was, even though it was worn and tarnished. I agreed with this choice as the patina of the wood and remaining components added to the chairs’ character. Similarly, the edges are unfinished; just like the original.
The contrast between the new straps and the old hardware is initially sharp. This will soon disappear as the straps age a bit and darken with use. When I was taking apart the straps, their undersides were still the original color, the same as I used for the new straps. Showing these original colors to the customer helped them understand how the straps would age.
Part of the challenge when restoring a piece is finding the right balance of replacing or furnishing old components with new ones vs. keeping original parts in their current condition. Brand new brass fasteners are nice but could have significantly changed the look of this piece.
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