Scandinavia Design

Pelican Chair & Table
Finn Juhl, 1940 

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House of Finn Juhl, Danish Design
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Pelican Chair make more visible Finn Juhl’s fascination for surrealism than any other furniture. It was also  the furthest ahead of its time off all his designs. When it was presented at the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibition in 1940, it stood out with its unusual shape and sturdy legs. 

Finn Juhl normally named his furniture numbers after the year in which they were designed, but over time the nickname "Pelican" stuck to the chair. Very few were manufactured and the chair was almost forgotten until we rediscovered and relaunched the chair in 2001. 

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

The characteristic soft and organic shape is almost like a body holding a body. When you sit down, the chair practically gives you a friendly hug. Like many of Finn Juhl’s later designs, the chair offers several comfortable ways to sit. 

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

The sculptural chair fits seamlessly into most modern interior styles and works particularly well with the Pelican Table and its close relative, the Poet Sofa from 1941. 

The Pelican Chair is produced in two versions - with or without buttons. It is manufactured with a cushion and upholstered by hand in fabric or leather. The legs are available in oak, walnut and black painted. 

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Legs oak, walnut or black Dimensions H68 x L85 x P76 cm – Seat Height 37 cm 

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Pelican Chair without button
from

Pelican Chair with buttons
from

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

▸ Fabrics and Leathers

Examples:

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Moonlight sheepskin / oiled walnut

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Off White sheepskin / oiled walnut

Gotland sheepskin / oiled walnut

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Watercolour Himalaya / oiled oak

Watercolour Golden Syrup / oiled oak

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Watercolour Soft Linen

Watercolour Pumpkin Spice

Remix 612 

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Watercolour Rose Quartz 

Watercolour Dark Conifer 

Remix 823 

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Watercolour Peacock 

Watercolour Fresh Sage 

Hallingdal 103 + Hallingdal 113

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Watercolour Cast Iron 

Remix 163 

Remix 933 

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Remix 123 

Remix 242 

Remix 762 

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Remix 183 

Remix 443 

Remix 412 

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Hallingdal 227 + Hallingdal 376

Hallingdal 764 + Hallingdal 110

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Hallingdal 457 + Hallingdal 100

Vidar 152

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Hallingdal 980 + Hallingdal 960

Vidar 222

Vidar 1511

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Vidar 182

Vidar 472

Vidar 723

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Vidar 443

Vidar 633

Vidar 582

Pelican Table

Materials oak or walnut Dimensions Ø63 x H45 cm

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Pelican Table – Oak

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Pelican Table – Walnut

Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940
Pelican Chair & Table  Finn Juhl, 1940

Finn Juhl

Finn Juhl

As a teenager, Finn Juhl (1912-1989) wanted to become an art historian, having a passion for the fine arts since childhood. His father stopped him and Finn Juhl started architectural studies. Later, when his fame as a designer of furniture acquired, he speaks of himself as an autodidact, in reference to this upset vocation that forced him to walk intellectually on a lonely way. His style owes much to this singular trajectory, with its non academic interpretation of art visible in his work. Finn Juhl started his studies in 1930, a key period which saw the birth of modern design and furniture.

His modern offices in central Copenhagen was greeting his visitors with a huge Japanese fish in paper, symbol of imagination. Rather than thinking in terms of practical construction, Finn Juhl had the mind-set of a sculptor, when he shaped a piece of furniture. In the 1940s and 1950s, this way of working had never been seen before. His ambition was to design furniture with movement and life.

Juhl took pride in making both the structurally supportive elements of the furniture and the seated person look as though they are floating. In some of his chairs, the backrest and the seat are almost invisibly joined, as if they were clouds floating through the room.

In creating his furniture, Finn Juhl worked with two elements: The carrying element, and the carried. He eventually became known for his special ability to separate the bearing parts from the borne. This is one of many examples of how he broke free from conventional working methods and found his inspiration in art.