Danish Cord

What is it? Danish paper cord is the material used to weave typical seats and backs found in many Danish, Scandinavian, and Mid Century Modern furniture designs. It is a very strong 3-ply fiber product and the weaving typically incorporates wrapping, rushing style weaving, and basket weave patterns. It gained popularity starting after World War II in Denmark and other European countries. It is generally only seen on high end, quality made furnishings.

Danish Cord Restoration is time consuming and the weaves and variations are highly advanced techniques, but the finished products make for the most wonderful transformations.

Weaves

Weaving Patterns: Danish Cord refers to the material used on these chairs. That material can be woven into a number of patterns based on the what the chair requires. Not all patterns can be woven on any chair. Danish Modern designers often made unique weaving patterns for specific chair designs.

Basic Danish Cord seat often found on Møller and Wegner seats. The weaving is one sided and only wraps around a single rung on all sides. From the underside you will see the cord is attached by specialty hook nails. Most of the time I am able to reuse the existing nails or a small fee to replace when needed. Chairs that have tacks or staples will require an extra fee for removal and replacement of the proper nails.

Double Danish Cord has an extra step in the weaving process where the weaving wraps around 2 rungs.

Rushing pattern Danish Cord mimics traditional rushing with the Danish Cord material. Often these chairs have extensive slots that the Danish Cord must be fed through which makes these seats more time consuming.

As of January 2016 I am no longer offering the Rushing pattern due to shoulder and elbow issues. Please see my Rushing page for referrals.

Don't see the exact weave that is not on your chair? Send me a photo at emzaschaircaning@gmail.com
What I have pictured is what I have worked on in the past few years. Almost every chair design has it's own specific weaving pattern and are wildly diverse!

Materials

Samples are available to choose from when dropping off your chair or item. All materials are 3-ply traditional Fibre and should be left bare due to a small additive of wax in the production process . Danish Cord options available:

Denmark Weave: Traditional, high quality, articulated, laced, and 3-ply Danish Cord imported from Denmark.

American Weave: A more economical version of the Denmark Weave made in America. It is a little smaller in diameter, unlaced, and 3-ply. Lesser quality, shorter lifespan.

Color: Danish cord comes in the traditional light tan color. Also available in special order white and black at an extra cost.

Common Breaking Point
The most common breaking point for Danish Cord is the front-to-back weaves along the front rail. When this happens it means that it is time for a new fresh seat.

Client Testimonials

Before + Afters

Niels Otto Møller

Danish designer Niels Otto Møller (1920-1982) was a perfectionist who sourced his materials and then took around 5 years to design each chair. While they are simplistic, they are solid and extremely comfortable to sit in. Some of his designs are still in production today. Well marked and catalogued, all are highly sought after and collectable.

Hans Wegner

Danish designer Hans Wegner (1914-2007) is the undisputed master of Danish Modern furniture design. Many of his pieces incorporate Danish Cord and are still licensed for production today. Wegner's pieces are shown in museums around the world, regularly command high prices, and are very much worth investing in restoration.

Original Hans Wegner "Peacock"

"We cannot thank you enough for the lovely job you did on our Wegner chairs – they are as good, if not better than the originals. Thank you again Andrew and Jette"

Unspecified Designer

Possibly attributed to Danish designer Arne Vodder