Finn Juhl
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a teak and natural brown leather "Chieftain Chair" by Niels Vodder, 1950-60's.
Stamped NIELS VODDER CABINETMAKER COPENHAGEN DENMARK DESIGN FINN JUHL. Height 93 cm, width to the upper part 74 cm, width between armrests ca 102 cm, seat height ca 36 cm.
Wear, stains, the leather with minor repair, one of the three buttons to the backrest is missing.
Provenance
The artist Nils "Miljonen" Carlsson (1920-1996).
More information
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.
Designer
The Danish architect and designer Finn Juhl is considered one of Scandinavia's most influential persons in modern furniture design. Juhl studied from 1930 to 1934 at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture and, while still a student, secured work with the Danish architect Vilhelm Lauritzen. This was followed by a series of prestigious assignments as a furniture designer both in Denmark and internationally, including work at the UN Headquarters in New York and the Danish embassy in Washington.
Instead of viewing furniture solely as practical constructions, Finn Juhl drew inspiration from an organic design language, where materials and form interacted in symbiosis. Like a sculptor, Juhl often drew inspiration from the shapes of the human body and nature's own constructions, fully leveraging the strength of materials. Juhl's ideas resulted in daring, supple joinery where each element elegantly merged into a balanced whole.
Finn Juhl's furniture, created in collaboration with master cabinetmaker Niels Vodder, introduced a new language to the world of furniture and made a significant impact with its advanced models, such as "The Chieftain chair" and "Grasshopper."