Six Danish Finn Juhl For Baker Dining Room Chairs, 1960s
View Similar Items
Six Danish Finn Juhl For Baker Dining Room Chairs, 1960s
About the Item
- Creator:Finn Juhl (Designer),Baker Furniture Company (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 30.5 in (77.47 cm)Width: 20 in (50.8 cm)Depth: 18.5 in (46.99 cm)Seat Height: 18.5 in (46.99 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s-1960s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Haddonfield, NJ
- Reference Number:Seller: 338261stDibs: LU943419936212
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.
Baker Furniture Company
Owing to the company’s collaborations with many leading designers and artists over time, vintage Baker furniture is consistently sought after today. The heritage brand’s chairs, dining tables, desks and other pieces are widely known to collectors and design enthusiasts for their fine craftsmanship and durability.
Within a few decades of its launch, Baker Furniture Company evolved into one of the largest and most important furniture manufacturers in the United States, and became known for its high-quality production standards. Siebe Baker and business partner Henry Cook founded the original iteration of Baker Furniture Company in 1890 in Allegan, Michigan, after immigrating to the United States from the Netherlands. Allegan is a small town west of Grand Rapids, which, at that time was home to Widdicomb Furniture Co. and more and was known as America’s furniture capital. The company manufactured doors and interior moldings, and introduced a combination desk and bookcase in 1893. In the early 1900s, Siebe became sole owner of the business.
Among others, stage designer Joseph Urban and modernist designer Kem Weber contributed designs to Baker in the 1920s. In 1932, under the leadership of Siebe’s son, Hollis, who started at the company as a salesman but took the reins when his father passed in 1925, Baker Furniture introduced bedroom pieces and debuted its Manor House collection, which made reproductions of European furnishings available to the American market. (Hollis was an avid traveler and procured antiques overseas for the company to reproduce in the United States.) Soon, Baker Furniture Company moved to Holland, Michigan, and eventually opened showrooms in Grand Rapids and elsewhere.
Pioneering Scandinavian designer Finn Juhl created a Danish modern line for Baker in 1951, and the company produced his award-winning Chieftain chair for a short time. In the late 1950s, Baker introduced the Milling Road label to reach a younger audience with stylish but less costly furnishings like console tables, walnut dining chairs and more, and in 1961, British furniture designer T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings introduced a modern neoclassical line at Baker.
The 1960s and ’70s saw the introduction of historic reproduction furniture lines such as Woburn Abbey and the Historic Charleston collection, which remain very popular to this day. In 1990, Baker was licensed to produce a furniture line from Colonial Williamsburg. That same year, the Smithsonian Museum introduced Baker’s Chippendale chair into its permanent collection and the Grand Rapids Art Museum dedicated an exhibition to Baker’s 100-year anniversary, a showcase that included 150 pieces of furniture Siebe Baker had collected as part of a larger assortment that had served as inspiration for his designs.
Today, vintage Baker furniture, such as its elegant mahogany nightstands and teak credenzas — particularly those crafted by Finn Juhl — sees high demand online and elsewhere. The company continues to produce contemporary collections with well-known designers such as Bill Sofield, Barbara Barry and Kara Mann and remains on par with some of the highest quality furniture in the industry.
Browse vintage Baker armchairs, sofas, coffee tables and more on 1stDibs.
- Pair of Danish Rococo Dining Room ChairsLocated in Haddonfield, NJGreat pair of original 18th Century Rococo chairs.Category
Antique 1760s Danish Rococo Chairs
MaterialsWood
$1,680 Sale Price / set56% Off - Set Of 8 Swedish Empire Flaming Tiger Elm Wood Dining Room ChairsLocated in Haddonfield, NJSet of 8 Swedish Biedermeier flaming tiger elm wood dining room chairs. Original removable sits make it easier for next owner to provide its own chosen tissue on this Scandinavian se...Category
Antique Early 19th Century Swedish Biedermeier Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsElm
$2,360 Sale Price50% Off - Pair of Danish Biedermeier Grass Green Upholstered Side ChairsLocated in Haddonfield, NJA set of Two Danish Biedermeier side chairs with beautiful carved wood design. This pair of chairs has been newly reupholstered with grass green Knoll fabric. The chairs are as comfo...Category
Antique 1830s Danish Biedermeier Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Birch
$1,406 Sale Price25% Off - Large Grey Green Danish Glass Vase by Per Lutken for Holmegaard 1960sBy Per Lutken for Holmegaard, Per LütkenLocated in Haddonfield, NJA tall and finely executed hand blown green glass vase by Holmegaard. The vase is signed and marked by Holmegaard and Lütken. The shape and...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Vases
MaterialsArt Glass, Glass
$345 Sale Price25% Off - Set of Ten Vintage Black Painted Wood Bar Stools, American 1960'sLocated in Haddonfield, NJ10 Mid-Century Modern Black Painted Bar Stools in Worn Patina Wood. The stools has signs of an earlier yellow paint that has be overpainted by ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsWood
$1,750 Sale Price / set30% Off - French Vintage Wicker Loop ChairLocated in Haddonfield, NJOld French wicker chair on black metal stand $95 flat rate front door delivery includes Washington DC metro, Baltimore and PhiladelphiaCategory
Early 20th Century French Chairs
MaterialsMetal
$490 Sale Price57% Off
- Dining Chairs by Finn Juhl for France & Søn, 1960s, Set of 4By France & Søn, Finn JuhlLocated in Rovereta, SMSet of 4 Scandinavian chairs designed by Finn Juhl and produced by France and Son in Denmark in the 1960s. They feature solid teak structu...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsTeak
- Finn Juhl 51 Chairs by Baker, 1952By Finn Juhl, Baker Furniture CompanyLocated in Los Angeles, CABeautiful Finn Juhl Model 51 chairs by Baker Furniture circa 1952 for the Baker Modern line. Priced per chair. One display in our Los Angeles showroom. UPDAT...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsWalnut
$3,850 / item - Finn Juhl for Baker Furniture Teak and Cane Dining Chairs, Set of FourBy Finn Juhl, Baker Furniture CompanyLocated in South Bend, INA gorgeous set of four mid-century Danish Modern dining chairs By Finn Juhl for Baker Furniture India, 1950s Sculpted teak frames, with caned seats and backs. Measures: 2...Category
Vintage 1950s Indian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsCane, Teak
- Finn Juhl for Bovirke 'Reading Chairs' in TeakBy Bovirke, Finn JuhlLocated in Waalwijk, NLFinn Juhl for Bovirke, 'reading' dining chairs, oak, teak, metal, Denmark, 1953. In 1953, Finn Juhl designed this 'Reading Chair' for Bovirke....Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsMetal
$4,200 / item - Finn Juhl for Bovirke 'Reading Chairs' in TeakBy Bovirke, Finn JuhlLocated in Waalwijk, NLFinn Juhl for Bovirke, 'reading' dining chairs, oak, teak, metal, Denmark, 1953. In 1953, Finn Juhl designed this 'Reading Chair' for Bovirke. The chair is organically shaped feat...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsMetal
$4,200 / item - Six Dining Chairs by Finn Juhl for Niels VodderBy Finn JuhlLocated in Dallas, TXA set of six teak dining chairs in original vinyl deigned by Finn Juhl for Niels Vodder, 1946.Category
Vintage 1950s Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsTeak
$14,000 / set