A. Madsen & H. Schubell Wingback sofa Bovenkamp The Netherlands 1960

A powerhouse duo in Danish furniture design throughout the mid-20th century, Henry Hans Schubell and Arnold Madsen collaborated as Madsen & Schubell with Dutch company Bovenkamp and Vik & Blindheim on a range of furnishings and created memorable lounge chairs, armchairs and other seating throughout the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s — such as the iconic Clam chair — that represent the finest of Scandinavian modern design.

Born in 1906, Schubell was an apprentice cabinetmaker turned foreman by his early 20s. As a supervisor for cabinetmakers Winter and Winding, Schubell oversaw furniture production in their workshop until the mid-1940s. In 1944, a skilled upholster by the name of Arnold Madsen requested assistance from a cabinetmaker to make a prototype lounge chair based on a plaster model he’d made. Accepting the challenge, Schubell impressed Madsen to the point that he suggested they enter into a partnership. The Clam chair was their first collaboration as Madsen & Schubell.

According to Aaron FitzGerald, of Dagmar gallery, Madsen’s Clam chair is “one of the most sought-after and simultaneously misattributed and copied chair designs of the twentieth century.” In the past, it was ascribed to the Norwegian retailer Martin Olsen and then the Danish architect Philip Arctander. It was only through some dogged research by a team of international design historians and collectors that it was finally correctly associated with Madsen.

In the backyard of a modest home in Copenhagen, Schubell built wooden frames which Madsen then upholstered. They sold their finished products to dealers under their joint name, earning enough money to move production to a factory outside the city. Some models were under license by Norwegian company Vik & Blindheim while others were manufactured by Bovenkamp in the Netherlands. The pair’s partnership ended in 1963 in order for the designers to establish separate companies. Madsen opened a new upholstery firm with his son, Ib Madsen, under the name Madsen og Schubell, and Schubell continued to build frames for Madsen as Schubell & Son. (At some point, Ib also traded under the name Ib Madsen and Acton Schubell.)

Vintage Madsen & Schubell chairs offer sturdy build quality and the kind of superior upholstery that is typical among mid-century Scandinavian furniture. Working with a range of woods including teak, rosewood and birch, Madsen and Schubell accented natural wood grains with soft lambswool and sheepskin for a variety of comfortable seating.

Find vintage Madsen & Schubell Clam chairs and other seating on 1stDibs.

Aksel Bender Madsen created a number of classic mid century designs in the late 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, often working jointly with his business partner and friend Ejner Larsen (1917–87). Bender Madsen trained as a cabinetmaker before spending four years studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, graduating in 1940. It was there that he met his lifelong friend Larsen, with whom he would work throughout his career. They designed over 300 pieces of furniture together until Larsen’s death in 1987, often working with cabinetmaker Willy Beck, who produced their designs over a 25-year period. Larsen and Bender Madsen participated annually in the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers’ Guild competitions from 1947, and their work was exhibited at the Triennale di Milano and in the Design in Scandinavia exhibition, which traveled across the US. from 1954 to 1957. Larsen and Bender Madsen’s most famous design, namely the Metropolitan Chair, was developed in 1949 and produced from 1950; its name came from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it was shown and acquired for the Arts of Denmark exhibition in 1960–61. Before he began working with Larsen, Bender Madsen worked for Danish icons Kaare Klint and Arne Jacobsen from 1940 to 1943. While designing furniture, he also worked simultaneously as an architect for the Danish Consumers Cooperative Society (1943–50) and as a teacher and principal at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (1950–54). Bender Madsen was committed to building the Danish design identity and exporting Scandinavian style. He introduced a clear Danish aesthetic to the Dutch brand Bovenkamp in the 1950s and 1960s, who also worked with Arne Vodder. Bender Madsen designs for Bovenkamp feature many models of easy chairs and armchairs, including the low-backed Edith and the high-backed Karen (circa 1950). Together Bender Madsen and Larsen received many awards, including winning the prestigious Copenhagen Cabinetmakers’ Guild Annual Prize in 1956 and 1961. Their furniture is housed in museums around the world, including the aforementioned Met Museum and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark.