Less do we know about Finn Juhl 1955 Sideboard. Indeed, the artist itself is considered the forgotten children of the mid-century modern design era for his reputation of being the less known between his fellows Charles Eames, Florence Knoll, Eero Saarinen, etc. Even though his pieces are truly highlighted within the movement, most audiences won’t be able to answer if asks who he was and what he did. In fact, It’s incredible how only a few actually know that he was not just the promoter of the Danish modern design trend, but that he was the one who introduced it to America. In the end, a real mid-century modern pioneer, whos a bit low-rated but not because of his amazing creation but due to people’s knowledge of this field. 

As he’s the creator of one of our best-sold items, we thought about bringing the background into the picture, in order to help readers that may be looking for some extra information about it. Whether you want to buy it or already have it, you have come to the right place because we’ll briefly tell you Finn Juhl and his sideboards story.  

The artist

Finn was born in 1912 in Frederiksberg, Denmark. He was educated at the celebrated faculty of design of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, graduating in 1934. But his tale doesn’t start there.

When in the 1930s British entrepreneur, C.W.F. France went to Denmark to assist a Danish friend to run a mattress factory and got sent to Germany as a war prisoner as WWII exploded, he got to developed a groundbreaking business plan. A plan that met the world 5 years later when the war ended with his comeback to Denmark throughout the 1950s and 60s.

Then, France started partnerships with the foremost promising Danish furniture designer: Finn Juhl. Together both developed high-quality furniture, in industrial scale and sold flat-packed. Changing the furniture business game forever by getting to export several pieces of high quality and not overpriced furniture. 

The success was set from the beginning. Everyone was getting danish pieces from all over the world. In consequence, the Danish designer became trendsetting in Germany, the UK and not least in the USA, where the term Danish Modern became internationally known – a movement that has seen a great revival today within the knock-off + mid-century hyped market. 

After his death in 2003, the Wilhelm Hansen Foundation instituted the Finn Juhl Award. An award for special efforts in furniture architecture and serves as a reminder of this towering designer’s legacy.

Finn Juhl 1955 Sideboard

Once the danish designer rose to stardom in American design circles, he became inspired by his American colleagues. Up until then, the wood had predominantly been his preferred material but at this time he gradually started experimenting with steel as well.

This gave origin to a new kind of simplicity. Straight lines on his designs became evident, just like we can appreciate on this sideboard. New styles feature on his creations, like shining steel frames and wood feet, were Juhl’s response to the criticism he had received in terms of his artsy sculptural styles and exclusivity.

In consequence, Juhl’s straightforward and delightful sideboard from 1955 combines exclusive wood materials with the colors from Goethe’s color circle. We talked about a factory-made piece with a veneered corpus in teak, oak, walnut or douglas hemlock. Its slippery doors can be found using the same materials named before or painted either white/yellow or white/light blue (like the one in our shop). The frame varies in shiny steel or painted black, orange or light-weight blue. Juhl’s iconic design is completed with or without a tray unit with six drawers in warm or cold colors. 

Present Popularity

Nowadays with the increased of mid-century modern popularity Finn Juhls 1955 Sideboard has won a name on the 21st-century interior design field thanks to its functional beautiful features. Its presence can be found anywhere from fancy hotel lobbies to small houses living rooms accompanied by other iconic furniture like Barcelona Chairs, Wombs, Tulip Tables, etc.

As said in our article explaining Juhl’s furniture popularity, as prevailing themes of Mid-Century Modern architecture is a nearly equal emphasis on function and form, it is not weird those blue shelves went to the top of the scale within furniture and decorations. 

Indeed, its versatility, clean lines, sleek design and plenty of storage, is perfect to provide style and functionality to any room. So, in the end, there’s no one reason why someone wouldn’t prefer it for their home design. 

Do you own a 1955 replica? Tell us your thoughts!

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