Portex Armchairs by Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard Nielsen for Fritz Hansen, 1945.

This is a pair of Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard Nielsen Portex armchairs, upholstered in oak and green artificial leather. They were manufactured by Fritz Hansen and stamped Portex. They are from Denmark in 1945.

The Portex range of furniture was designed to be exported, so there was a desk where the legs could be unscrewed and shipped in the desk drawer, although this chair, actually, was shipped assembled. The designers themselves explained exactly why and in doing so explain functional aspects of the chair that were taken into account in its design.

'While we realized the necessity of being able to dismantle or fold up cupboards, tables, and beds during transport, we did not dare use these principles for chairs. A chair screwed together that might be quite stiff to begin with will never, in the long run, be able to stand up to the stress that it will invariably be subjected to. A chair must often bear great weight, must be able to tolerate being tilted, and will be moved more or less brutally throughout the day. The screw would work in its hole under these stresses, and in the end, will loosen. The stacking principle was chosen since it has the advantage that the chair could be assembled and finished at the factory. The disadvantage was that the known stacking chairs show clear signs that they can be stacked."

The chair was inspired by a Shaker chair although, unlike Shaker chairs, it can be stacked.