Scimitar Chair, Chair No. 63

This is an original ‘Scimitar’ Lounge Chair, designed by Preben Fabricius and Jørgen Kastholm in 1963. The piece was handmade by Ivan Schlechter in Denmark in the 1960s. It remains one of the roughly 150 Scimitar chairs that were produced between 1963 and 1984 under Schlechter’s direction.

The design features a modern stainless-steel base in the form of a ‘Scimitar’, which is a Middle Eastern sword with a curved blade. The base of this chair was handmade by pouring liquid steel into several molds, as the unusual shape made it impossible to be produced by machine. Once hardened, the cast pieces were skillfully welded together to assume one solid shape.

The modern floating seat is covered in a fine brown Italian leather, freshly reupholstered according to the original design’s specifications. Schlechter had to sew the leather around the molded plywood shell by hand, making the design even more difficult to produce in large numbers.
The base is stamped with the manufacturer’s logo, and the leather seat was also branded. The piece retains an inventory sticker applied by General Time Instruments Corporation, whose headquarters were designed under the direction of architect Victor Bisharat.

This chair measures 27 inches deep, 32.5 inches wide, and 25.5 inches high. It has a seat height of 15.25 inches. There is some patina on the base, and we have intentionally left it in its original condition to showcase its history. The new leather upholstery is in excellent shape. Please see photos.