Chieftain Chair by Finn Juhl for Baker Furniture 1997/8 Edition

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The Chieftain Chair is considered to be one of the most important designs by Finn Juhl. It was first presented … Read more The Chieftain Chair is considered to be one of the most important designs by Finn Juhl. It was first presented at the Cabinetmakers Guild in 1949, and it is said that Denmark's King Frederik sat in it, hence the name. Baker Furniture USA was the only authorized manufacturer outside of Denmark, and they signed the contract in 1951. They made the Chieftain chairs for two short periods, one in the early 1950s and the other in 1998, but in very limited numbers. While the 1998 edition was one of the closest versions to the original design in the 1950s (only after the Niel Vodder edition), it received criticism for using plywood in the armrests, which made it less sturdy and bulkier.

This Chieftain Chair is a 1998 edition, made from solid American walnut and reupholstered in Maharam Sorghum Leather. It was originally purchased from an estate in Denver, Colorado, and was halfway upholstered. Upon inspection, it was discovered that the chair was never originally upholstered by Baker, and the armrests were wrong/missing. We worked with Modern Conscience in Seattle to rebuild and reconstruct the armrests using 3D and other models. Then, Modern Conscience built a plywood and fiberglass hybrid form that was period-correct while adding structural strength to the armrests and reducing the thickness of the profile, closer to the steel armrests found in the Niels Vodder edition.

The chair has been completely reupholstered in Maharam Sorghum Leather in Cognac Brown, which has a distinctive wax leather smoothness and natural markings. The entire restoration process and research took over two years. It is now finallyin excellent condition, , ready to be the focal point of the room once again. See less