We have this very interesting coffee table that we assumed was a hand-made one-off piece influenced by Finn Juhl. However, we recently came across a liveauctioneers listing of the same table. They've attributed it to Finn Juhl, but we're skeptical. There are no makers marks at all on this piece. Any ideas??
(Photo is from liveauctioneers website.)
Who made it? Niels Vodder.
It looks like the precursor to the 500 series made by France and Sons.
http://ink361.com/app/users/ig-199091523/scandinavianmod/photos
I would stay the simple fact that the OP's table and the liveauctioneers table are neither marked is sufficient to bias one against the already far fetched idea that Niels Vodder made the table. NV appears to have been quite reliable about marking his pieces. To believe that he made it one wants to see a marked piece. And then to believe that Finn Juhl designed it would be quite another bridge beyond. There are quite a few Niels Vodder made pieces that are NOT Finn Juhl designs. (Of course, Finn Juhl's name is spelled with currency symbols by dealers the world over ($$$$ $$$$ is the spelling in the USA I believe) so plenty of Vodder pieces are credited to $$$$ when they aren't his).
I have seen this design before somewhere; a few times probably. If you want to know more about it, I would start by trying to find a marked specimen, which would give you the manufacturer, or perhaps only the country of origin (it might be Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, or a few other things in decreasing likelihood).
Some more photos might help. Drawer sides can be very revealing. As can the undersides of furniture. It is possible with some more photos something might ring a bell for somebody here.
The raised edge on occasional tables is pretty common but it's the kind of thing that less knowledgeable dealers or unscrupulous auctioneers zero in on as a singular identifying feature. The edge on your table is not the same as on the Finn Juhl table, and the legs are very different too.
But it's that strange, clunky, single drawer that gets me. I just can't see Finn Juhl ever doing something like (not that I'm a Finn Juhl expert---far from it).
More photos, please.
And I am not at all sure what you mean by "hand made." It isn't a very well defined phrase. And in the context of Danish furniture from the 50s and 60s and this table in particular, I have no idea what you mean. You will need to document it for us photographically.
In the most radical sense, "hand made" might mean a piece from Nakashima's studio, where you can see a bit of "imperfection" from the use of hand tools for shaping. Or it might mean what you see in a piece of southeast asian teak furniture, where you can see where the cabinetmaker hand cut pocket holes with a chisel. It also might mean furniture where machine tools were used extensively, but it is the hand of a single craftsman that creates the piece.
Most danish furniture really does not fit under the vague rubric of hand made.
Well I know where the dealer got the information. I am just a little unsure what to make of it.
The Danish Furniture Index shows a photo of the FJ56 sofa with this coffee table in front of it. And comments that the coffee table is FJ53. However, the coffee table is NOT independently listed in the DFI. And the cabinetmakers guild exhibition photos from 1953 do not show the coffee table in Niels Vodder's booth, which is where it would be, presumably, if it were a FJ53.
https://aleph-01.kb.dk/F/JA91H8GG6K1B9SBP6TLMDAI2BJDARGKPHQEA3YN28VNLKGE...
Additionally, the media source lists the Lunning catalog. And the Lunning catalog has both the sofa and the coffee table listed as designed by Finn Juhl. But no model numbers. However the letter code does indicated Niels Vodder as the maker.
Wow, thank you! That is great that you found that information. Thank you for sharing.
So.... it looks possible that it's Finn Juhl, and likely that it's a Niels Vodder-made piece in any case. Very interesting! I love chasing down these mysteries. I'll post more photos after the holidays. The dovetails are clearly hand-cut and finer than you normally see.
Thanks again for posting this information!
I would still like to see more photos of the table in question.
The legs of the of the old photos of this table seem to splay outward. The OP's table appears to have vertical legs.
Also, I am still bothered by the fact that this table is unmarked, as that is not at all like Niels Vodder.
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