Description

This outstanding rosewood table was designed by Finn Juhl and manufactured by France & Son in Denmark in the 1960s. It is a truly stunning table. Finn Juhl designed a series of furniture called the Diplomat series with chairs, desks, tables, cabinets and other furniture made of teak, rosewood, and mahogany in 1961. This dining or conference table has a simple design and is one of the finest examples to emerge from Scandinavia in the mid twentieth century.

Finn Juhl studied architecture at the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen. After graduating, he worked for ten years in the office of Vilhelm Lauritzen, a leading Danish Modernist architect. In 1945, he set up his own practice, specialising in interior and furniture design. Juhl created design forms with the mindset of a sculptor and much of his furniture was technically ahead of its time. Juhl’s career blossomed through his participation in the annual Copenhagen Cabinetmakers’ Guild exhibitions, nationally sponsored events that supported design innovation through collaborations between young architects and traditional cabinetmakers.

France & Søn—and its predecessor, France & Daverkosen—are among the most sought after names on the vintage market today. Numerous pieces that are still in circulation retain their original identifying labels and were designed by major midcentury Danish designers, like Hvidt & Mølgaard, Grete Jalk, Finn Juhl, Arne Vodder, and Ole Wanscher. It’s surprising, then, that so little information about the company’s history and evolution has survived but most sources agree that the popular Danish manufacturing firm was founded in Denmark around 1948 by British businessman Charles W. France and Danish cabinetmaker Eric Daverkosen.

W170 x D95 x H72cm