confused by my Finn Juhl Vodder Chieftain chair  

where did you get this from?

First thought would be that's it just a really bad reupholstery job but I think we're gonna need more pics from more angles to determine authenticity

a friend gave it to me; it had been given to him many years ago. Probably when he lived in California, but I'm not sure. I can't really ask him, since it's sort of rude for me to be trying to determine its value when it was a gift.

Hmmmmmm . . .

I need better friends.

From what I can see of the teak frame and the branded stamp, it appears to be legit. The upholstery job looks horrible though. My thought is that it is a legit chair with an awful re-upholstery job. However, more photos would be helpful -- of the underside of the chair, underside of the armrests, detail shot of the "horns" on the backrest.

Haha. Yes, me too. This is what friends are actually for?

more pics, including from the bottom with seat removed.

tchp will be shortly asking for an outside side photo of the horn.

In the meantime, ignore all unsolicited offers which you may soon be receiving to buy the chair.

Sure, a side photo of a horn would be great. But, the chair looks totally legit. It was not reupholstered properly, or by someone who understood what the upholstery needed to look like.

A similar chair without original upholstery sold on Ebay in July for $39,200.

So far it looks right to me. That is the the worst upholstery I've ever seen on a Chieftain. It would be worthwhile to get it done properly. And this is not small undertaking on this chair. There are very few leathers available that are correct for the chair; they are very expensive; and you will want to get a very good upholsterer to take on the job.

horn from the side

Can we get a closer image of the horn from the side? Maybe a handwidth or so. The detail that tchp wants is not visible.

All the details look correct. And the general form of the chair frame and its parts also look entirely correct. The joinery in the horn is what one would expect to see with a Vodder Chieftain (although a better image, closer up would help verify that for sure). I feel confident that it is a genuine Niels Vodder Chieftain chair.

As Leif said, the upholstery on these has to be done in a very particular way to satisfy any collectors who would be interested in purchasing the chair. Otherwise, they will look it as something they must have re-done, and you would have wasted your money.

A final check would be to place a magnet on the armrest where the padding is not so thick (your armrests appear to be very over-padded), like on the underside, and make sure the magnet attracts, as the armrests on this chair should be made of formed sheet steel.

a few more pics: I removed enough of the lining on the bottom of an arm, and it appears to be veneer...can't tell if that veneer is on top of sheet steel. Also, was surprised to see 3 screws attaching a piece of trim on the bottom of the armrest.