Cado Bookends
While Danish furniture company Cado is popular among collectors of Scandinavian modern furniture for its well-crafted chairs, sofas, coffee tables and dining tables, the brand is best known for its sculptural wall shelving systems created by renowned Danish designer Poul Cadovius (1911–2011), Cado's founder.
The Copenhagen-born Cadovius initially studied to be an upholsterer and saddler before pursuing furniture design. He began his career in the 1940s making Venetian blinds and other window treatments before shifting his focus toward designing versatile furnishings that could be adapted to all sorts of interior spaces.
In 1945, Cadovius founded the furniture manufacturer Royal System intending to produce his designs for postwar homeowners. His visionary works included the 1948 Royal System shelving unit, a space-saving solution that underscored Cadovius’s penchant for problem-solving in a multifunctional way. Rather than balance shelves on wooden or metal legs, it held them to the wall with brackets. The wall unit was practical and functional, but it was also decorative, made of rich and exotic woods like walnut, rosewood and teak, a favorite wood of Cadovius’s and a highly sought-after material among mid-century modern designers.
Cadovius established Cado in the late 1950s. The manufacturer followed the Royal System shelving unit with several other modular storage designs including the System Ultra in 1957, System Cado in 1960 and System Abstracta in 1962. Two years later, with more than 400 patents to his name, Cadovius purchased premier Danish furniture manufacturer France & Søn and incorporated it into Cado.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Cado collaborated with influential Danish and European designers of the era such as Steen Østergaard, best known for his stackable Cado 290, a Space Age fiberglass-and-polyamide nylon lounge chair; Finn Juhl, a stylistic maverick who embraced expressive, free-flowing shapes in chair and sofa designs much earlier than his colleagues; and Ole Wanscher, who drew on Shaker furniture and Chippendale forms and created the widely loved Colonial chair and coffee table for P. Jeppesens Møbelfabrik.
Cadovius’s designs — as well as the other works manufactured by Cado — are widely coveted by vintage furniture enthusiasts all over the world. In 2018, the Danish brand dk3 reissued the Royal System as well as a more compact version.
On 1stDibs, discover a range of vintage Cado case pieces and storage cabinets, seating and tables.
1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Cado Bookends
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Cado Bookends
Brass, Nickel
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Cado Bookends
Alabaster
1960s Vintage Cado Bookends
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Neoclassical Cado Bookends
Iron
1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Cado Bookends
Metal
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Cado Bookends
Brass
Mid-20th Century Indian Regency Cado Bookends
Brass
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Cado Bookends
Brass
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Cado Bookends
Brass
Mid-20th Century Scandinavian Modern Cado Bookends
Teak
1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Cado Bookends
Brass
1970s Unknown Mid-Century Modern Vintage Cado Bookends
Metal
Cado bookends for sale on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertOctober 7, 2024The difference between the Cado System and the Royal System lies in their designs. In 1948, designer Poul Cadovius introduced Royal System wall shelving made up of a system of rails that lent an open, airy feel to it. Unveiled by Cadovius in 1960, the Cado System built on the Royal System, with wood paneling added to the rails. The Cado System collection also included coordinating furniture, such as tables and sofas. Find a range of Poul Cadovius wall units on 1stDibs.