Old Chair

5 comments

1. Top text says Norwegian frozen fish.

   At some point in the past, Norwegian fish exporters used wooden boxes to ship cod, herring, etc. Those boxes ended up everywhere, and people sometimes reused the wood to build chairs, tables, or other household junk. That’s why your chair looks “old” and why the branding is about seafood instead of furniture design.

2. Probably home made. The plank with text is from a crate of frozen fish from Norway.

3. The text – Norsk Frossenfisk A/L (Norwegian Frozen Fish Ltd) – is a strong indicator to me that this chair was made from upcycled wood.

   It is quite possible that the chair was made in the US.

   For those curious;

   *Norsk Frossenfisk A/L* was established as a cooperation between 40 fisheries in October 1946. By 1947 they exported frozen fish to fourteen countries, including the US. They are better known as *Frionor*, a trademark they registered in 1947 – and in 1963 they formally changed name to *Frionor Norsk Frossenfisk A/L*. they were bought up by *Findus* in 2000.

   So while that probably wont help you find out anything about the maker of the chair, at least it puts an lower and upper band on the age of the chair; it cannot be older than 1947, and it is likely older than 1963.

4. The boards with the text are from a crate, looks like a repair so probably unrelated to the chair’s origin. Text translates roughly to “Norwegian frozen fish company”, Norway exported a lot of fish back in the day…

5. It seems to be carved in “dragestil”, which translates to “dragon style”. This was a popular type of architecture that was prevalent in the late eighteen to early nineteen hundreds. This style was also used for a lot of furniture. The typical chair in this style would usually have a dragon head on each armrest, but there are many exceptions.

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragestil

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