Ilmari Tapiovaara "Mademoiselle" high-back rocking chair

A Mid-Century Finnish designer you may or may not have heard of, Tapiovaara was both prolific and extremely influential. You've seen his designs all over, even if you don't know it. IKEA, for instance, copied many of his designs verbatim (gosh, the longer I do this the more I realize how little at IKEA is original design work).



This is Tapiovaara's rarely-seen "Mademoiselle" rocker, which is just pure perfection. The high back, swooping arms, and spare silhouette make her a knock-out, and very very comfortable, too. Ingeniously, the legs mounted over the tops of the rockers keep it from creaking when rocked. Besides discomfort, isn't that the biggest strike against wooden rockers?

Well honey pies, I've got one taking a Danish oil bath and getting pretty for auction tomorrow! Mine is solid hemlock, without the black paint as shown here, which feels much more "Danish" and modern to me.

Draped with a cozy sheepskin, this gets my highest recommendation as the best nursery rocker ever.

Check the storefront tomorrow evening around 7:30pm Pacific time for the auction.


photo via Deconet