Items Similar to Danish wingback armchair with off-white canvas, Niger leather details, elm legs

Danish Wingback Chair in Off White Upholstery

1960s, Danish wingback armchair, original, furniture velour, oak wood legs.

Danish Modern Wingback Armchair by Bovenkamp

Danish Modern Wingback Leather Chairs

Elegant Vintage Danish 70s Leather Chair Wingback Armchair #654

Vintage Olive Green Leather Wingback Armchair, Denmark circa 1960

Want more images or videos?

Request additional images or videos from the seller

1 of 11

Danish wingback armchair with off-white canvas, Niger leather details, elm legs

Name: Danish wingback armchair with off-white canvas, Niger leather details, elm legs
Brand: Grete Jalk
Price: 12871.9 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

This very rare and early wingback was designed in 1946 by Grete Jalk (1920-2006) and Ejner Larsen (1917-1987). The legs are of elm. Seat, back and sides are upholstered with light fabric including Niger leather buttons and piping. The young Grete Jalk had just finished her studies at the Danish Design Academy, where she had trained to become a furniture designer, when she in collaboration with the slightly older Ejner Larsen designed this wingback. Ejner Larsen had finished his studies a few years earlier and was in 1946 actually teaching at the academy. Together they entered the cabinetmaker’s design competition in 1946. Jalk had entered the competition the year before without success, but this time she wins 1st prize with Ejner Larsen. After having won she is offered a position at the academy in Stockholm and despite her collaborative success with Ejner Larsen she accepts and moves to Sweden – for six months initially, but she ends up staying on for longer. Back in Denmark Ejner Larsen is looking for a new partner and the year after he joins forces with Aksel Bender Madsen, whom he had studied with at the academy. The two would go on to collaborate for decades and most of the time with master cabinetmaker Willy Beck, who also helped Jalk and Larsen execute this particular wingback chair. This wingback was exhibited at The Copenhagen Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibition, Kunstindustrimuseet, stand 17, Sep 27 to Oct 13 1946.

Creator:

Grete Jalk (Designer)

Dimensions:

Height: 43.71 in (111 cm)Width: 33.47 in (85 cm)Depth: 33.47 in (85 cm)Seat Height: 16.54 in (42 cm)

Style:

Scandinavian Modern (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Elm,Fabric,Leather

Place of Origin:

Denmark

Period:

1940-1949

Date of Manufacture:

1946

Condition:

Reupholstered. Wear consistent with age and use.

Seller Location:

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU8693237006682

View Invoice

Shop All Grete Jalk

Grete Jalk

What would the reputation of mid-century Danish furniture be without legendary female designer Grete Jalk? A pioneer of Scandinavian modernism, Jalk sought to craft furniture that was both cost-efficient and high in quality, each piece made for the evolving interiors and design sensibilities of the day. She continues to be celebrated for her sleek and minimal armchairs, lounge chairs, coffee tables and more.

Jalk was born in 1920 in Copenhagen. She studied at the Drawing and Applied Art School for Women before enrolling at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, where famed designer Kaare Klint was among her instructors. Jalk completed her studies in 1946 and began a cabinetmaker apprenticeship. That same year, she won an award at the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers’ Guild competition. Jalk also participated in the 1951 Milan Triennial exhibition, where her designs earned more acclaim and attention.

In 1954, Jalk opened her own design studio and began working with major Danish furniture manufacturers like Fritz Hansen and Glostrup Møbelfabrik. She found inspiration in plywood experiments carried out by Alvar Aalto and Ray and Charles Eames, and she quickly became known for her pared-back, expressive designs, which touted fluid forms and were made of alluring woods such as teak and rosewood.

Jalk’s best-known work is the 1963 GJ chair, a collaboration with cabinetmaker Poul Jeppesen that won first place in the Daily Mail International Furniture Competition. Made of two pieces of molded teak plywood, the sculptural GJ lounge chair is part of the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum of Art.

While creating her iconic furniture designs, Jalk wore many other hats. She taught at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and served as an editor of the Danish design magazine Mobilia from 1956–62 and 1968–74. In 1974, Jalk curated a traveling design exhibition for the Danish Foreign Ministry and was named a member of the Danish Design Council in 1981. She was also the editor of 40 Years of Danish Furniture Design: The Copenhagen Cabinet-makers' Guild Exhibitions 1927–1966, published in 1987.

Jalk passed away in 2006 at the age of 86. In 2008, Danish furniture manufacturer Lange Production was granted exclusive rights to reproduce the GJ chair, a design as fresh and original today as ever.

On 1stDibs, find vintage Grete Jalk seating, tables and storage pieces.