Finn Juhl (1912-1989). Rosewood Desk
Danish, 20th Century
Designed 1942. Cabinet-maker Niels Vodder.
Height 29½ in. (75cm) Width 25½ in. (65cm). Depth 25½ in. (65cm).
Provenance : Finn Juhl Collection; subsequently with his widow Hanne Wilhelm Hansen(1927-2003). Hanne Hansen was a music publisher, running the family firm of Wilhelm Hansen in Copenhagen. After Juhl's death in 1989 she continued to live in their house in Charlottenlund, which had been designed and furnished by Juhl.
Finn Juhl is one of the most celebrated architects and designers of the 20th Century, and one of the most distinctive designers of the Danish Modern movement. He is possibly best known for his design of the Trusteeship Council Chamber at the UN in 1950. He began designing furniture in 1933 and first exhibited his work at the Cabinetmakers' Guild Exhibition, Copenhagen in 1937.
This is probably the prototype for Juhl's writing desk with attached lamp, which was exhibited in the 1942 Copenhagen Cabinet-makers' Guild Exhibition, a drawing of which appears on page 186 of Greta Jalk, Dansk Møbelkunst gennen 40 aar, Denmark, 1987.
