House of Finn Juhl Finn Juhl Chieftain Chair

Chieftain Chair | House of Finn Juhl

The iconic Chieftain Chair is one of Finn Juhl's absolute masterpieces and represents the pinnacle of his career as a furniture designer.
When introduced in 1949, the chair marked a renewal of the Danish furniture design tradition. Inspired by modern art and foreign cultures,
The Chieftain Chair with its organic forms liberated itself from traditional Danish furniture design and strict functionalism in both form,
construction as materials.
Today it is regarded as one of the main exponents of the Danish modern movement in the US during the 1950s. For this reason,
Finn Juhl is often regarded as the founder of Danish Modern.

The Chieftain armchair is probably the most famous piece of all Finn Juhl chairs and has a powerful design, which dominates not only in
size and extravagance, but also needs a lot of space around it to come into its own. It is a chieftain in every way and
is therefore called an icon of Danish furniture design.

However, Finn Juhl himself was quite modest about the chair's development process and had no expectations of its grandeur:

“I started drawing the Chieftain Chair one day in the spring of 1949. I was at home and started drawing a little sketch around 10 am with
only four vertical lines connected to something.
By two or three in the morning I had painted it. But in reality I don't know how long it took me to design that chair.
Maybe I had a vague idea for a while that I wanted to design something bigger. There had been so many small, convenient chairs,
so I probably felt like designing something more pompous..."

In 2012, the Chieftain Chair won the Danish Design Award, Classic. The jury said in its motivation:
"Today, the Chieftain Chair stands as an inspiration for a new generation of furniture designers and as proof that attention to quality,
international caliber and the will to break with tradition can pave the way to make a difference as a designer.”

This lounge chair has all the characteristic of Danish design in it. The chair is clearly organic in all lines. For example, look at the wood along
the backrest, which seems to follow exactly the growth of a branch.
The next characteristic is how thoughtfully this chair has been made, which is visible, for example, in how the parts of the frame come together,
like the top of the backrest. That connection is so refined that it requires exceptional skills from the woodworker to make it.
Finally, comfort is an important feature. Finn Juhl has designed an armchair with the Chieftain Chair that is so comfortable that various
sitting positions are comfortable for a long time.

Dimensions |
Width 100 cm
Height 92.5 cm
Depth 88 cm
Seat height 34.5 cm

Materials |
No concessions are possible with regard to the use of materials for the furniture by Finn Juhl. You can count on the best quality in fabrics,
leather and wood.
The Chieftain chair is available in oak or walnut with upholstery in selected, exclusive leathers. Please note that the backrest consists of
one piece of leather with which both the front and the back are seamlessly covered.
The wood is finished with oil.

You can buy the Chieftain Chair online in the best quality leater: Vegetal by Stolz. This is full grain aniline leather from Scandinavian bullhides.
The leather is vegetable tanned accordig to ecological standards.
There are six colors to choose from:natural, brown, wine red, cognac, dark brown and black.
Please contact us if you wish to be informed about other leathers to choose from.

Finn Juhl Chieftain Sofa and Footstool

In addition to the Chieftain Chair, Finn Juhl also designed the Chieftain footstool. If preferred you can order it online with the armchair.
Finn Juhl also designed the Chieftain Sofa two-seater. For more information, please contact us.

Finn Juhl Organic Danish Design

The Danish modernist Finn Juhl may have been the designer with which organic forms are most visible in his furniture design.
Like other modernist pioneers, Juhl started from scratch with no role models or hereditary limitations.
He designed by measuring and analyzing his own body and how the individual parts of the chair should support the human body.
And unlike his contemporaries, with their streamlined, scaffold-like structures, Juhl strove for a more organic,
natural shape.
The potential strength of the wood was used to the maximum, just like it occurs during the natural growth process of a tree.
As Finn Juhl translated his ideas into bold, smooth joinery where every element of the design flows seamlessly into another,
he also set very high standards for the furniture makers who had to make the design.
The result is visible in beautifully refined, sculptural and iconic work that has been supplied exclusively by House of Finn Juhl
since its restart in 2001.
North Sea Design is an official dealer and has the Finn Juhl Pelican Chair, the Finn Juhl Sideboard
and the Finn Juhl 109 Chair in the showroom.

Finn Juhl Chieftain Chair at North Sea Design

North Sea Design is an official dealer of the Danish design furniture brand House of Finn Juhl. In our shop are several models on view.
In addition to this Chieftain armchair, we supply all models.
All wood, upholstery and leather samples of our Scandinavian design furniture are available in our showroom in Vorden in the Achterhoek.
We are happy to inform you about all the possibilities that House of Finn Juhl offers.
North Sea Design is the Scandinavian design specialist in the Achterhoek. Visit us during opening hours or contact us
for an appointment at a time that is more convenient to you.