I have a lovely secretary desk I'm trying to identify. I was told it was Arne Vodder, but I'm not so sure. I found one listed as by Poul Volther on 1st Dibs, but not sure the dealer knows what he's talking about either. The pulls aren't like other Volther pulls I've seen. It's quite beautifully made and early... any ideas?
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I'd be curious to see more photos of the drawer sides, inside of the secretary, and rear.
I think the Volther attribution was made on the handles, which you quite rightly pointed out aren't quite right. I can't imagine what the Vodder attribution was caused by except perhaps money.
The oak apron and legs is interesting.
What makes you say it is early?
Those are very distinctive drawer sides; there is no dado slide in the slide. So the drawers slide on their bottoms, with a that piece of teak hiding the internal cross member that supports the drawer. The drawers don't have a slide down the center of the underside right?
If you can find more drawers executed in this fashion, there is a likelihood you will have found the manufacturer.
From what I see on this side of the photos, I don't see anything that would definitely rule out the late 60s. The oak legs make it perhaps more likely to be early, but it is already a strange pice in many ways, so it is hard to say. Niels Vodder designed a sideboard with very similar legs (many people incorrectly credit it to Juhl). I think this piece is very probably later than it, as I would say the legs were very influenced by it. Can't remember how far into the 50s when it was designed....
Thanks. Why do you rule out Niels Vodder? I found a dresser that has the same drawer construction by N. Vodder. Is it just not "finely" made enough? (I have a very early Finn Juhl table by Vodder that has very narrow, fine dovetails on the drawer, whereas this one has more standard proportions on the dovetails.)
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