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Pacific Overseas Inc?  

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jesgord
(@jesgord)
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18/11/2016 5:42 pm  

Pacific Overseas Inc. was a big importer of Danish furniture to the West Coast as early as 1955. I have seen the name in advertisements, articles in Mobilia, etc., but never seen anything else. No catalogs, labels, or ephemera. Wondering if anyone has any information on Pacific Overseas Inc, or if anyone has ever seen anything related to them other than the type of things I mention above. They appear to have been the West Coast importing equivalent of George Jensen/Lunning (I could be mistaken about this). It just seems odd to me that such a small footprint has been left behind. I have attached a Fritz Hansen add from a 1955 issue of Mobilia as well as a reference to them from "The American Design Adventure, 1940-1975" Thoughts?
<img class="wpforo-default-image


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DrPoulet
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19/11/2016 1:05 am  

There is a catalog online but you need to register (don't know if it is legit though): http://www.freebookspaindownload.org/edicion-especial/the-catalogue-of-c...
google books confirms:: https://books.google.fr/books/about/Catalog_of_Contemporary_Design_from_...
Another mention of a catalog here: http://aus.bookmaps.org/p/a/pac_40.html
The owner was Mr Harry Larsen (which kinda makes sense, page 4 of the following document): http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~npmelton/bu63_171.pdf
and their adress was 670 Howard Street in San Francisco.
You probably already found these info but I like a good google challenge 😉
It is indeed odd that there is not much more info to be found online if the company was that important.
All the info I found are from the second half of the 50s (1955-1957 roughly) and it seems that your Mobilia issue is from this period (I know that Mobilia had the square format in 1958). I guess that the company was a short lived one...


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jesgord
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19/11/2016 2:40 am  

Thanks DrPoulet. I have previously tracked down most of the stuff that you found. Just strikes me as odd that there isn't more info on the Company. The Mobilia this was pulled from is an early rectangular issue-before they switched over to the square format.


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leif ericson - Zephyr Renner
(@leif-ericson)
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19/11/2016 4:28 am  

I have previously seen the San Francisco store "Svend Wohlert" mentioned as a possible parallel to Frederik Lunning in NY. I have doubts that this is true though. I can't really find much of anything about Svend Wohlert either. Lunning's Georg Jensen store in NY was markedly high end, selling cabinetmaker pieces that nobody else did. And exclusively at least in some cases, like Finn Juhl's designs for Niels Vodder.
I think it might be the case that the only retailer that had more of the pinnacle of ultra fine Danish Modern furniture was Den Permanente in Copenhagen, and in the beginning DP carried the furniture of only one exceptional factory: Fritz Hansen. The rest of their product was exclusively cabinetmaker guild exhibition grade stuff. Later in the early 60s DP started offering factory pieces as well.
I've seen what Swedish Modern sold via old editions of Furniture Forum, and the same for Richards Morgenthau (aka Raymor). Their selection was quite a few shelves lower down in stature. I would think these were parallel sorts of companies based on their mention in the advertisement.


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kenfillups
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09/11/2020 4:42 am  

We have just discovered we own a 2 shelf coffee table by this company. My uncle purchased it in Oakland, California in 1965. It is 71 inches long and 14 inches wide with a lower shelf. We think the wood is mahogany, possible teak. My uncle has written the date he acquired it (9/15/65), Pacific Overseas Inc., and the price of $70.00 on the bottom of the shelf. There is an embossed round imprint stamp with the word DANISH and the word CONTROL and some finer blurred print that appears from the stamping tool having shifted. Interestingly there are numerous pencil lines that appear to be either original assembly guide lines or lines added when someone disassembled and reassembled it for moving. We would love any information anyone would like to share and would be happy to share phots. It appears we have inherited a number of Danish pieces of furniture that we know nothing about from my uncle.

1604893359-IMG_0968-2.jpg

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cdsilva
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17/11/2020 3:59 am  

In the new Finn Juhl book by Phaidon, it states: "Further, in 1950, on the American West Coast the Dane Svend Wohlert established the business Pacific Overseas, which specialized in Danish Modern."

In addition to no commas, there is also not a follow-up to that sentence. However, it does indicate that all of the Svend Wohlert importer brands we see on vintage furniture are one and the same with Pacific Overseas; the latter being the corporate name of the venture.

By the way, I believe Vilhelm and Svend were brothers.


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Herringbone
(@herringbone)
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17/11/2020 1:19 pm  

@cdsilva Yes they were brothers. Svend was three years younger (born in 1923). He grew up in Copenhagen, completed an apprenticeship as a salesman and seems to have started his business in the US as early as 1951, according to the personal data I can find. 

"People buy a chair, and they don't really care who designed it." (Arne Jacobsen)


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lexi
 lexi
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21/11/2020 6:53 pm  

@cdsilva;- @herringbone.

Posting some images relating to Pacific Overseas Inc; George Jensen and Svend Wohlert.

Image 2 : Address for Pacific Overseas ( 478 Jackson Street ) from 1953 publication ( image 1)

Moller, Vigo Sten Scandinavian Design: Directory of Arts and Crafts Resources in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden; Copenhagen: Langkjaers Bogtryk; 1953   ;

 

1605981202-pacific-overseas-and-geaorge-jensen-1953-catalogue-2L.jpg
 
Image 3:- Svend Wohlert catalogue; unsure of date. Address; 473 Jackson Street.
1605981965-svend-wohlert-address-1960-for-reference-pacific-overseas.jpg
Apologies ; some zooming in required !! Laptop acting up. 🙄 

Knowledge shared is Knowledge gained


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cdsilva
(@cdsilva)
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23/11/2020 12:17 am  

Thanks, lexi. Very close on the addresses, but on the opposite sides of the street. I guess they might have been separate companies, even though owned by the same person. Or as you possibly inferred in your e-mail, the company may have been the same, but upgraded locations and changed names over the years. Pacific Overseas is a pretty bad name for a company that imports furniture from Denmark.

On a funny unrelated coincidence, I was poking around online a few days ago looking for a copy of that exact book you posted: Scandinavian Design: Directory of Arts and Crafts Resources in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden 

Apparently, there is an attribution in there that clarifies that this chair design is by Jens Hjorth for Randers (306 for the lounge chair and 307 for the dining chair), and not Hans Olsen or Ib Kofod Larsen, as is often erroneously listed online. If that book is in your possession, any chance that you could post an image of that page? Thanks.

1606087075-b5da38ef-5977-420f-82d3-f893dda19898.jpg

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lexi
 lexi
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23/11/2020 1:02 pm  

@cdsilva; Sorry to dissappoint you. That book is for sale in the UK and the seller has posted very few images of the contents; and none relating to the info you are looking for.

Knowledge shared is Knowledge gained


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Huesol
(@huesol)
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20/12/2020 9:17 pm  

Hi! Today i ve found an interesting piece in our cellar, which i couldn t identify. Do you guys know what it is?? The upper part ist rotatable. It s out of chrome. And there is a signature of Svend Wohlert Denmark (picture). I couldnt find similar pieces in the internet. My google research brought me here. 
maybe there ist someone who knows more? Thank you

1608495636-3821F501-D296-4A6F-BE64-5991DD345567.jpeg

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