Finn Juhl Chair 136
King frederik and queen ingrid of denmark used to be so kind to open the exhibition.
Finn juhl chair 136. The chieftain chair is one of finn juhl s absolute masterpieces representing the peak of his career as a furniture designer. The seat and back have been reupholstered using light grey divina wool felt fabric from kvadrat. The 46 chair represents the very best of danish modern furniture design. Finn juhl originally designed the 46 chair for cabinetmaker niels vodder and presented the chair at the cabinetmakers guild exhibition in 1946.
Today however the chair is delivered fully assembled. When finn juhl designed the 46 chair he also designed a slightly more minimalistic version without armrests and this piece now. With this approach he created pieces like the pelican the poet sofa the chieftain chair and the 45 chair which today have become icons of the danish modern design tradition. A rare design from danish master finn juhl the most collectable of all the danish modern designers.
Finn juhl s philosophy of separating the carried and the carrying elements thus creating space is apparent in this chair. Later on finn juhl revealed that the name the chieftain chair came about as a coincidence. Today finn juhl s chieftain chair is regarded by many as the most important danish modern icon yet there is surprisingly little information available about the design. Finn juhl s characteristic design feature of separating the carrying elements from the carried is also at play in the fj 53.
It integrates the lightness and elegance of a wooden chair with an upholstered corpus to embrace the body with genuine comfort. The fj 53 is an extravagant piece of furniture. On his project papers finn juhl had simply written the big chair and when the chair was initially displayed in 1949 it was referred to as nv 49. Considered one of the leading figures in 20th century danish design juhl originally created the fj 136 chair for british entrepreneur c w f france.
Its form is typical of mid century danish. It was originally delivered flat packed as knock down furniture which was france s business idea and the main driver for his phenomenal success on the american market. The 136 chair features teak frame suspended back and seat pads and exposed brass joints. Rather than thinking in terms of practical construction finn juhl had the mindset of a sculptor when he shaped a piece of furniture.
At its introduction in 1949 the chair marked a renewal of the danish furniture design tradition and today it is seen as one of the most important exponents of the danish modern movement in the usa in the 1950 s.