X Chair & X Table – &Tradition 🇩🇰 Hvidt & Mølgaard, 1960

Danish architects Hvidt & Mølgaard designed the X Chair and X Table, inspired by 3,000-year-old Egyptian folding furniture.

Their X-shaped profile is highlighted by a contrasting solid walnut insert. The wooden structure consists of veneer sheets pressed around a solid wood insert. A strict metal tie rod ensures stability and aesthetics.

Archival sketches show how the designers tested a number of materials for the seat of the armchair, before opting for natural woven rattan.

The tabletop in varnished oak veneer features an intricately shaped raised edge in solid oak, giving it originality and character.

The table has been designed to be large enough to comfortably seat four people, providing ample space for conversation over a drink.

“Although Hvidt and Mølgaard look like modest Danes, they possessed an inspiring international vision,” says Martin Kornbek Hansen, founder and CEO of &Tradition.

“Elegant and singular, the X collection immediately stood out to us when we leafed through old archives. A true archetype of their visionary approach to design, we knew immediately that we wanted to bring it back into the spotlight.”

X Chair HM10

X Table HM13

Hvidt & Mølgaard

Peter Hvidt (1916-1986) and Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen (1907-1993) were pioneers of Danish mid-century design and founders of Copenhagen-based Hvidt & Mølgaard.

Renowned for the simplicity of their work, the duo established a simple, precise aesthetic by designing countless pieces of furniture over the years, many of which have become icons of the era. The success of the AX chair (manufactured in 1950) was a defining moment for the duo. Not only did its precise, rigorous silhouette cement their position as leaders of Danish modernism, but the use of laminated wood enabled the chair to be mass-produced and exported internationally. This avant-garde approach to industrialized production paved the way for a new movement that relied on classic craft techniques to make affordable, beautiful domestic furniture.

Hvidt and Mølgaard-Nielsen possessed superior technical skills. Mølgaard-Nielsen studied furniture design at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts under the tutelage of Kaare Klint, while Hvidt acquired knowledge of traditional craftsmanship during his cabinetmaking studies at Copenhagen's School of Arts and Crafts. Today, their work can be seen at MoMA, the National Gallery in Melbourne and the Design Museum in Copenhagen.