Leading lights in Danish design history

At the international auction at Bredgade in March, you will have the opportunity to experience unknown sides of the architects Kaare Klint (1888–1954), Arne Jacobsen (1902–71) and cabinetmaker Peder Moos (1906–91) on their far from tentative path towards the idiom that epitomises their names today.

Klint, the artist and the film director

Sometimes you have to pinch yourself! It is a momentous occasion indeed when a piece of furniture that one has otherwise only ever read about in books suddenly turns up at our auction house. Kaare Klint’s beautiful bench of Cuban mahogany was produced in duplicate in 1917 by cabinetmaker N.M. Rasmussen in Holbæk. With its neoclassical expression and distinct references to the couches of Ancient Rome, the bench bears witness to Klint’s early admiration for M.G. Bindesbøll. It was originally designed for the painter Albert Naur, who was co-founder of the “Grønningen” art association in 1915 and part of Klint’s social circle.

The bench has been consigned to auction by film director Rumle Hammerich, who explains that he visited the artist’s home as a child because his mother was married to Naur’s son. Here, he witnessed Naur lying on the bench in his studio in a fug of turpentine, a cigar clamped between his index finger and "dead" leather-clad middle finger, while he regaled the family’s open-mouthed children with his tall stories. Not only was the bench created by the man who easily had the greatest influence on 20th century furniture design in Denmark, but it has also enjoyed an interesting existence in the homes of creative Danish personalities.

Furniture from Jacobsen’s villa on Strandvejen

Arne Jacobsen is the best known of the three architects in an international context. He was also the architect here in Denmark, who most wholeheartedly embraced the watchwords of international modernism: function and mass production. The auction offers a rare insight into the architect’s earliest furniture, which is a far cry from his world famous classics with steel frames and moulded plywood from the 1950s. In the early 1930s, Jacobsen designed a villa on Vedbæk Strandvej for lawyer Bernhard Schepler, and he was also responsible for the interior design. From here, we have two upholstered, sculptural armchairs and not least a large chest of drawers of Cuban mahogany with 33 drawers, which featured in the anniversary exhibition at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in 2002 to mark the 100th anniversary of Jacobsen’s birth.

The master of them all

Not many people are familiar with Peder Moos, but once you have seen his beautiful furniture, you will never forget it. He managed to bring out the wood’s natural character like no other, and given the age he lived in, when machinery was increasingly being used in cabinetmakers’ workshops, he is considered something of an anachronism. Moos maintained the age-old traditions of craftsmanship and remained true to the workbench and hand drill. He even refrained from using nails and screws, preferring to join his furniture with wooden dowels. The armchair with drumstick legs and matching dining table made of solid walnut from 1949 are prime examples of this.

The auction features several early unique pieces of furniture by the three architects, so come and experience the mighty pioneers of Danish furniture design for yourself!

Preview: 19–23 February at Bredgade 33 in Copenhagen
Auction: Thursday 5 March, 4 pm, at the same address

View the entire selection at the design auction

View all items including in the auction

Read more about the auction and download cataloques

Read about bidding