Finn Juhl for Bovirke Lounge Chair in Teak

About the Item

Finn Juhl for Bovirke, armchair model BO-59 ‘Westermanns Kaminstol’, teak, fabric, Denmark, design circa 1946, production 1950s Static armchair designed by Danish designer Finn Juhl and produced by Bovirke. The chair shows the aesthetic characteristics of Juhl’s design, a modest design with high attention to detail, organic curved lines and excellent comfort. Especially the delicate curve of the arm and the seat that is detached from the frame. Moreover, the chair features crossed rungs that taper heavily towards the middle yet still provide solidness to the overall design. The frame is executed in solid teak. It is worth nothing that a very similar chair was made by Niels Vodder. Finn Juhl (1912-1989), born in Denmark, planned on becoming an art historian when he was young. His father however decided it would be a better career move if he went to become an architect. After his architecture degree Juhl worked for ten years with Vilhelm Lauritzen. At the age of 33 Finn Juhl opened his own furniture design practice. In the 1940s he designed a number of creations that regenerated Danish furniture design, and broke with the established furniture tradition. Juhl is known as the one of the most important pioneers of Danish design. He was in fact the first Danish furniture designer to gain widespread international recognition. His work was vital to spreading the “Danish Modern” concept around the world. His designs are re-known for being exquisitely elegant, refined up until the smallest detail and extremely well executed. Please note that we advise reupholstery before use. This item might contain some threadbare upholstery with loose seams and small stains. Reupholstery can be done before shipping by our experienced craftsmen and -women in our own in-house restoration atelier. With high attention for the original, they make sure every piece retains its value and is ready for the many years to come. We kindly ask you to contact our design experts for further information about the endless possibilities our restoration and upholstery atelier has to offer. Of course, a locally organized reupholstery is possible as well.

Creator:

Bovirke (Manufacturer),Finn Juhl (Designer)

Dimensions:

Height: 33.08 in (84 cm)Width: 24.81 in (63 cm)Depth: 29.53 in (75 cm)Seat Height: 16.15 in (41 cm)

Style:

Scandinavian Modern (In the Style Of)

Materials and Techniques:

Fabric,Teak

Place of Origin:

Denmark

Period:

1950-1959

Date of Manufacture:

1950s

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use. Every item Morentz offers is checked by our team of 30 craftspeople in our in-house workshop. Special restoration or reupholstery requests can be done. Check ‘About the item’ or ask our design specialists for detailed information on the condition.

Seller Location:

Waalwijk, NL

Reference Number:

Seller: 450121901stDibs: LU933137962252

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Shop All Finn Juhl

Finn Juhl

Along with Hans Wegner, Arne Jacobsen and Børge Mogensen, Finn Juhl was one of the great masters of mid-20th-century Danish design. Juhl was the first among that group to have his work promoted overseas, bringing the character of the nation’s furnishings — and the inherent principles of grace, craftsmanship and utility on which they were based — to an international audience. A stylistic maverick, Juhl embraced expressive, free-flowing shapes in chair and sofa designs much earlier than his colleagues, yet even his quietest pieces incorporate supple, curving forms that are at once elegant and ergonomic.

As a young man, Juhl hoped to become an art historian, but his father steered him into a more practical course of study in architecture. He began designing furniture in the late 1930s, a discipline in which, despite his education, Juhl was self-taught, and quite proud of the fact. His earliest works, designed in the late 1930s, are perhaps his most idiosyncratic. The influence of contemporary art is clear in Juhl's 1939 Pelican chair: an almost Surrealist take on the classic wing chair. Critics reviled the piece, however; one said it looked like a "tired walrus." Juhl had tempered his creativity by 1945, when the Danish furniture-making firm Niels Vodder began to issue his designs. Yet his now-classic NV 45 armchair still demonstrates panache, with a seat that floats above the chair’s teak frame.

Juhl first exhibited his work in the United States in 1950, championed by Edgar Kaufmann Jr., an influential design critic and scion of America’s most prominent family of modern architecture and design patrons. (Kaufmann’s father commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright’s design of the house “Fallingwater.”) Juhl quickly won a following for such signature designs as the supremely comfortable Chieftan lounge chair, the biomorphic Baker sofa, and the Judas table, a piece ornamented with stylish inlaid silver plaquettes.

As you will see from the offerings on 1stDibs, Finn Juhl’s furniture — as well as his lighting, ceramics, tableware and accessories — has an air of relaxed sophistication and elegance that is unique in the realm of mid-20th-century design.