Finn Juhl France Chair

【Finn Juhl France Chair】

Derived from the FJ136 designed by FinnJuhl for France & Son in 1956.

In 1936, American businessman CWF France and Danish craftsman Eric Daverkosen co-founded France & Daverkosen, which initially focused on manufacturing mattresses and furniture. In the post-war 1950s, it was also the golden age of Danish furniture design. At this time, the total furniture exported by F&D accounted for 60% of the total Danish furniture exports at that time. It can be seen that F&D has achieved great success in the international furniture market. In 1957, with the joining of CWF France's son James France, the company was renamed France & Son.

At that time, Finn Juhl was also one of the designers working with F&D. However, most of Finn Juhl's designs included exterior structures composed of various curvatures, which were quite unfavorable for industrial mass production. Therefore, Finn Juhl's works were not the first choice for mainstream commercial considerations at that time. Among Finn Juhl's many designs, the FJ136 was one of the few that took industrial manufacturing and flat packaging into consideration, which helped France & Son export the FJ136 to Europe and North America at that time. Therefore, the FJ136 was initially assembled. Of course, there are still some differences from the current IKEA flat packaging.

Even though it is designed from the perspective of mass production, Finn Juhl’s characteristics can still be seen in many details, such as the shape of the armrests, and the inclined seat cushion and backrest similar to the No. 45 chair, some of which are made of brass columns. Embellishing and creating a sense of floating, it is not difficult to see how Finn Juhl strikes a balance between business and design.

In 1998, Finn Juhl's widow Hanne Wilhelm Hansen approached One Collection and entrusted One Collection to reproduce 57 SOFA, thus opening up the opportunity for One Collection to reproduce Finn Juhl's designs. With permission from James France, One Collection renamed the FJ136 the France Chair and reissued it in 2016.

Designer: Finn Juhl
Manufacturer: One Collection
Material: walnut, leather Dimensions: Width 80, Depth 72, Height 81, Seat Height 38 (cm)