Beechwood and Leather "Safari" Chair | Wilhelm Kienzle

LEATHER AND BEECHWOOD "SAFARI" CHAIR
Designed by Wilhelm Kienzle in 1928
34 3/8" H x 22" D x 21 1/2" W x 14" H to seat

Designed in 1928 by Wilhelm Kienzle, the "Safari" chair is an enduring icon of modernist seating, an example of which is held in the permanent collection of the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany. This example is crafted from solid beechwood and features entirely new custom artisan-made rawhide leather sling seat, backrest, and arm straps, produced by a local maker to match the original design. The leather is thick-cut, hand-stitched, and secured with high-quality brass buckles and fittings, ensuring both durability and visual authenticity. Please note the natural variations of rawhide leather.

In writing about the chair in the Vitra Design Museum, Claude Lichtenstein notes:
"This dis-mountable chair was created by the Swiss designer Wilhelm Kienzle. It is an adaptation of a model used in the nineteenth century by British colonial officials during their work-related travels, which Kienzle had seen in London in 1928. Its advantages are that it is lightweight and takes up little space. The chair’s legs are connected by round bars, which are inserted into the open seam of the seat cover (in copies with the original cover). Similarly, the cover is affixed to the movable backrest, which is attached to the upper ends of the back legs with a pivot pin. The leather strap armrests are fastened to the legs with brass buttons. Since the chair’s frame is not independently stable, leather straps stretched between the chair legs bear the lateral load of the seated individual.

In the interwar period, others – such as the Danish designer Kaare Klint in 1933 – created variants of this chair type. Kienzle’s design most likely was not mass-produced until after 1945 by the Swiss interior design company Wohnbedarf. In the post-war period it became the very embodiment of a non-conformist lifestyle."

We have several examples of this model and a variant by Wilhelm Kienzle in the shop, some in original leather and some, like this example, with newly crafted artisan leather upholstery.

Shipping Note: This chair will be shipped entirely disassembled in order to keep shipping costs to a minimum, and reassembly will be required upon arrival.

Condition: Entirely new artisan-made leather in heavy rawhide with natural flaws and blemishes. Polished steel nubs on arms while all other hardware is solid brass. Speckling and staining to the finish of the chairs.

ref. 405QXI07A