FINN JUHL | AN EARLY "CHIEFTAIN" ARMCHAIR

Private Collection

Wyeth, New York

Private Collection 

Phillips New York, June 9, 2015, lot 100

Acquired from the above by the present owner 

Grete Jalk, ed., Dansk Møbelkunst gennem 40 aar, Volume 3: 1947-1956, Copenhagen, 1987, pp. 124-25, 233,and 311

Esbjørn Hiort, Finn Juhl: Furniture, Architecture, Applied Art, Copenhagen, 1990, pp. 23 and 40-41

Patricia Yamada, ed., Finn Juhl Memorial Exhibition, exh. cat., Osaka, 1990, pp. 6, 10, 22, 36, 56-59 and 134

Noritsugu Oda, Danish Chairs, San Francisco, 1996, pp. 92-93

Per H. Hansen, Finn Juhl: Og Hans Haus, Copenhagen, 2009, pp. 36, (for a drawing of the model), 37, 39, 40 (for a drawing of the model), 41, 43, 73, 79, 155, 158, 164, 190-191, 193 and 206

First exhibited at the 1949 Danish Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibition, Denmark’s King Frederik allegedly sat in a model of this chair, Finn Juhl to title it the “Chieftain Chair.” This early Chieftain Chair is from the first series of chairs designed by Finn Juhl and produced in 1949 by cabinetmaker Niels Vodder. Only 78 chairs of this early model were ever produced, and many were purchased by the Danish Government for their embassies across the world. Finn Juhl was greatly influenced by Egyptian forms in his craft. The construction of this piece, with its curving form and wide planes, evokes the ancient Egyptian thrones used by the pharaohs. The leather upholstery of this lot is original, and was custom made by the noted Danish upholsterer, Ivan Schlechter. Usually produced in a brown or black leather upholstery, this extremely unique piece may be the only one ever produced in white leather.