Early Set of Two ( 2 ) Finn Juhl Model Sw96 Lounge Chairs in Teak, Oak, and Caning Attributed to Søren Willadsen, Denmark, C. 1950s

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Description

Expertly restored & preserved – structurally sound, original integrity maintained. To own a pair of these early-production SW96 lounge chairs … Read more Expertly restored & preserved – structurally sound, original integrity maintained. To own a pair of these early-production SW96 lounge chairs is to own a genuine fragment of Finn Juhl’s legacy at its purest.

Designed in the early 1950s and first manufactured by master cabinetmaker Søren Willadsen, the SW96 remains one of Juhl’s most sculptural and intimate seating designs. Its characteristic soft, enveloping curves, dramatically shaped backrest, and beautifully proportioned teak frame perfectly illustrate Juhl’s philosophy: furniture should be built for the human body, not merely around it.

These particular examples are among the earliest known surviving production pieces made by Willadsen before the design was later licensed to France & Søn. They carry the unmistakable hand of 1950s Danish cabinetmaking: tight joinery, generous use of solid old-growth teak, and a level of hand-finishing that is almost impossible to replicate today.
The chairs arrived with beautiful time-earned patina, honest signs of use, and a few localized areas of minor structural wear. Restoration was approached with museum-level restraint: Selective consolidation and color-matched teak inlays only where structurally required and preservation (not removal) of the original aged finish wherever possible.

The result is a pair of chairs that feel alive with history yet are structurally robust and ready for daily use by the next generation of owners.

Few Finn Juhl designs communicate so directly the designer’s obsession with comfort, sculptural form, and the expressive potential of wood. The SW96 is not a “lounge chair” in the conventional sense—it is a small architectural space built for one person.

Today these chairs are offered on behalf of the original owners who have cherished them for decades.

Serious inquiries only. These do not come to market often.

---Dimensions---
Width: 29.75 in / 75.57 cm
Depth: 30 in / 76.2 cm
Height: 31 in / 78.74 cm
Seat Height: 14 in / 35.56 cm See less