I believe this couch is designed by John Mortensen, and I know it is built by Vejen Polstermobelfabrik, Thoms Kvalitet. There is no designer named on the tags that I have found. But my searches did find two ads online by Vejen, both from November 1972 and both with this style couch, with design attributed to John Mortensen. Neither couch was made of leather (one was cloth, one some kind of "hair") but the design I think is unquestionable.
To my knowledge Mortensen did not design many sofas, mainly tables and some wood heavy chairs, and I can not find any other examples of this style sofa by searching Vejen or Mortensen, and I have spent some time so far. So although I found these two advertisements, I am a little uncomfortable contributing them to a specific designer without any other evidence.
So my question is; does anyone know when and for how long Mortensen designed for Vejen, and which products would be attributed to him during that time?
Follow up question; has anyone seen another one like this besides the sofas in the 2 Nov. 1972 ads?
Off topic question; Did G. Thoms stop designing for Vejen at the same time Thoms Kvalitet starting being attached to the name, and what does all that mean?
Thank you in advance.
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It actually says Thams Kvalitet not "Thoms". I think it is quite likely that G. Thams was also the owner of Vejen Polstermøbelfabrik. This would explain why they say "Thams Quality" and why he designed so many pieces for one company.
And considering that you have not one, but 2 vintage advertisements from the maker showing the same design, just with different upholstery, crediting--not attributing--the design to John Mortensen, I think it is very safe to feel 100% confident that John Mortensen was the designer.
I don't think anyone has an overview of the works that John Mortensen did for the company. These are not very big names here. You'd probably have to find the families Thams and Mortensen and see if any children have an archive of old documents to get that sort of information.
@leif-ericson I saw this old thread while I was researching another Mortensen design. His website has a gallery of his designs, including a number of pieces he did for Thams.
https://degntimm.dk/jmdesign/work.html
Thank you for the link, @mark737, this is fantastic. Not that I have ever heard the name John Mortensen nor have I heard most of the companies he worked with. But that doesn’t come as a surprise, because he obviously did most of his work in the 70s and 80s. The furniture is not very appealing, if you ask me, but the whole thing gives you a feeling that in the 70s and 80s there were architects and designers as well, who spend a lot of time, putting a lot of work into furniture that will never be remembered because it doesn’t meet the aesthetic standards of the classics. I‘m surprised to see that the Kofoed chairs were not designed by Niels Kofoed him self. I‘m also surprised to see that Snedkergaarden has been around for much longer than I thought. I’m not surprised that I don’t find any of the Dyrlund designs attractive in any way. But that may be just me.
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