The name Chieftain is said to emanate from Juhl's intention to dedicate the armchair to King Fredrik IX. However, he later came to show the armchair together with African sculptures, thus referring to the African continent.

Finn Juhl is considered to be one of the most influential Danish designers in modern Danish furniture design. The Chieftain is one of Juhl's absolute masterpieces.
Juhl was strongly inspired by contemporary sculpture, e.g. Jean Arp, of whom he had works of his own at home. Juhl's organic designs often put to a test what was possible in terms of craftsmanship. It was through contact with the master cabinetmaker Niels Vodder that Juhl was given the opportunity to see his advanced ideas realized. Vodder thus got an important role early on in Juhl's career. Vodder's skills allowed Juhl to find the perfect balance between stability and graceful sculptural forms.
“Art has always been my biggest source of inspiration. I'm fascinated by shapes that defy gravity and create visual ease. " - Finn Juhl also wanted to create a visual difference between the structural maintaining elements and the surface that carried the seated - he wanted the seated person to appear as hovering above the chair's frames. The Chieftain Chair was one of the first furniture to which these principles were applied. Despite its advanced form, Juhl is said to have produced the sketch for the first Chieftain quite fast. Finn Juhl presented the armchair in 1949 at Snedkerlauget's annual exhibition in Copenhagen. The model has since been slightly modified in different details during the following years after the first chairs were shown.

In 2012, the Chieftain was rewarded with the Danish Design Award Classic with the motivation that it today stands as an inspiration to a new generation of designers. By attaching great importance to quality and craftsmanship and breaking from traditions one can make a difference as a designer.