Assistance with valuation of 1950's France & Daverkkosen (John Stuart Inc) Teak dining table chairs

Hello, I have these 4 teak dining table chairs that I am struggling to find more information on as well as an approximate value. 1stdibs.com appears to have a few sets that look very similar but is no help since their pricing on those are $4500-14000 which is such a wide range.

First, any info on them would greatly be appreciated as I love to hear stories behind some of these pieces and what makes them unique today. I can tell that these are well designed and also very well made.

 

yes, they're lovely.

we don't do valuations here....

maybe , start at 14 thousand....and be prepared to discount..

 

Ah, my apologies. I thought it was a forum for also helping see the value of items. Thank you for clarifying.

Do you know any more information on it? Like for example, the few pictures I found for sale, indicate Arne Vodder. Is this the actual designer of the chair? And why does the chair have John Stuart Inc on it? Did they sell this for F&D here in the US?

 

Here are some sold at auction prices for similarly named pieces - you may have to register but its free

Search "france & Daverkkosen" (liveauctioneers.com)

These look similar

Arne Vodder - France & Daverkosen - Chairs - Aug 23, 2018 | Regency Auction House in NJ (liveauctioneers.com)

 

Yes, they are by Arne Vodder, model 185L chairs made by France and Daverkosen, originally designed in 1956. John Stuart was an importer/retailer with showrooms in NYC and Grand Rapids. Here are the last 6 sets sold at auction to give you an idea of value.

 

Wow, thank you so much for the reply everyone. This is really great info on both pricing and also the details. Nice to be able to understand the names/models/etc. Much appreciated!

 

@SoCalSurfer Also, you might be wondering about the name. The company was started by two men, Charles France (English) and Inger Daverkosen (Danish). When France's son joined the company in 1957, they changed the name to France and Son. The company was sold in 1964 to CADO. There is a company called France and Son operating today, selling reproduction pieces, but they have no relation to the original - they just co-opted the name.

And as far as values go, auction results are typically at the low end. For example, the set of six that sold for $700 is a crazy low price. Retail prices in a nice shop tend to be about 2-3 times auction results. Online sellers on sites like Ebay, Etsy and Chairish are usually somewhere in between. I would check all of these to get a true picture of what they should sell for. And your chairs, with the woven backs and seats, are more desirable than most, so they should sell at the high end of the range.

 

" Ah, my apologies. I thought it was a forum for also helping see the value of items. Thank you for clarifying."

No worries !
As u can see , members ,at their leisure will sometimes point in the direction of where to look for values , but there are so many uncertainties that giving out values for your items is fraught with uncertainties .

"so they should sell at the high end of the range."..... should be taken with a healthy dose of salt !

 

The key word is "should". As Komokwa correctly says, there are many uncertainties with value, such as location and time frame. If you are not near a major metro and need to sell quickly, you will not get the highest price. But if you are willing to wait longer, and maybe deliver to some nearby cities, you will eventually get a fair offer. I think $500-$600 per chair is a reasonable expectation. I definitely would not take less than $300 each.

 

Thanks for all the useful information. This is definitely useful.

And the story behind the names is very interesting. I did see that France and sons exists now and I assumed they just changed the name but very interesting to get those details.

One other thing I noticed is the logo seemed to go through various changes. You can see the logo on my chair which is more of a diamond with F&D inside it. But other chairs similar to this style and from around the same time, have a circle with F&D. Then of course there are other ones that have F&S, which I assume must be pieces created after the name change.

 

Isn't this a joy to be able to talk to people, who are interested in your pieces, and who have knowledge and which launches you into research, increasing your own knowledge and appreciation.

 

I've read that the name and logo changed to France and Son in 58, so that would make your chairs from 56 or 57. And it looks like your version with the cane seats and backs might be model 187L according to the Danish Furniture Index. Though no one really cares about model numbers.

https://aleph-01.kb.dk/F/PMJNLS3579...set_number=867404&set_entry=000005&format=999

 

Now that is a really cool find Mark. Thanks! Yeah, I don't know how much it matters to know the model, but definitely cool to have this link to get more detailed description of the chairs! Thanks for finding that!