Poul Cadovius Bookends
While Poul Cadovius is most famous for his modular floating shelving system, his career in design didn’t actually start with wall units.
Born just outside of Copenhagen in 1911, Cadovius began manufacturing window treatments in the 1940s with his partner, Hother Brønner. He soon turned his focus from Venetian blinds to furniture, finding success designing svelte pieces in teak, a richly colored hardwood favored by the Danish mid-century modernists.
In 1945, Cadovius founded the furniture manufacturer Royal System with his designs, including 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.
Cadovius followed the Royal System shelving unit with the System Ultra in 1957, the System Cado in 1960 and the System Abstracta, which was installed throughout the exhibition halls of the 1962 Cologne Furniture Fair. All expanded on his idea of wall-mounted shelving that saved space while offering functionality, allowing for limitless combinations of storage, shelves, work surfaces and other units. The Royal System proved to be especially popular and is still produced by Danish furniture brand dk3 today, with early models continuing to be in demand.
Along with the shelving systems, Cadovius designed everything from lounge chairs to mushroom-shaped bus shelters, and he held over 400 patents. In addition to being a designer, he was also an entrepreneur with an eye for opportunity, such as purchasing Danish manufacturer France & Søn in the mid-1960s and folded it into Cado, a company he founded years earlier. He used this as an occasion to experiment with his designs, conceiving such unusual pieces as an aluminum-based dining table topped with rosewood and hand-painted by artist Susan Fjedldoe Mygge.
Cadovius’s innovations in shelving continued throughout his career, with examples like the sculptural Butterfly shelf and vertical pieces mixing shelving and storage. In 2018, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Royal System, dk3 reissued the celebrated shelving system as well as a more compact version reimagined for 21st-century homes.
Find a collection of vintage Poul Cadovius storage cabinets, seating and other furniture on 1stDibs.
1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Poul Cadovius Bookends
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Poul Cadovius Bookends
Brass, Nickel
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Poul Cadovius Bookends
Alabaster
1960s Vintage Poul Cadovius Bookends
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Neoclassical Poul Cadovius Bookends
Iron
1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Poul Cadovius Bookends
Metal
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Poul Cadovius Bookends
Brass
Mid-20th Century Indian Regency Poul Cadovius Bookends
Brass
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Poul Cadovius Bookends
Brass
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Poul Cadovius Bookends
Brass
Mid-20th Century Scandinavian Modern Poul Cadovius Bookends
Teak
1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Poul Cadovius Bookends
Brass
1970s Unknown Mid-Century Modern Vintage Poul Cadovius Bookends
Metal
