Moos' Museum Table

"... It is becoming a table – so if there is a little money to spare, the table would be much obliged. Sincerely, Peder Moos."

In this way the Danish cabinetmaker began his correspondence with his client Doctor Gert Poulsen on 3 April 1968. The so-called "Museum Table" was taking shape, and the uncompromising cabinetmaker needed money to finance the design. The correspondence lasted more than six months, where Moos with great empathy described his affection for the table, which during the process became somewhat of a "religious sanctuary" for him. It was a time-consuming and costly process to make the table, and Moos clearly had his concerns about mentioning the price to the client: "This should be read at the very end – preferably when seated or lying down and with the finest medical remedies within reach ... The table costs 6,000 Danish Kroner – if only I knew how this hurts."

A Cabinetmaker of Divine Inspiration

The beautiful coffee table of Brazilian rosewood and boxwood has now found its way to our auction and is a testament to Moos being a cabinetmaker of divine inspiration. The wooden material’s life-like quality and the furniture’s joints are as usual highlighted to perfection. The piece was only produced in a few copies and was first presented at the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers' Exhibition in 1943. In 1952 it was part of the colleague Finn Juhl's decoration of an exhibition room at Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum in Trondheim. The table comes with the wonderful correspondence between Moos and the customer, and through this writing we also find the probable cause for why the table still appears in such good condition – it should be treated with paper napkins, fine wood wool and cold water.

The Dancer’s Chaise Longue

One of the auction’s other highlights is a piece of furniture by Nanna Ditzel, who is one of the few Danish female architects from the golden years of Danish design that succeeded in becoming part of design history. Included in the auction is her chaise longue in Brazilian rosewood from 1951, which at the time was only produced in this one example. The model was, however, put into production in 2010 by Kitani in Japan. The chaise longue is a classic cabinetmaker piece made in collaboration with Nanna Ditzel’s husband, Jørgen Ditzel, but the characteristic feminine expression from her hand cannot be denied. Perhaps this was the reason why the graceful solo dancer Margrethe Schanne acquired the piece. She was for many years one of the greatest stars at the Royal Danish Ballet, and during the 1950s she danced into the national consciousness of the Danes to such an extent that she ended up on a postage stamp – depicted in mid-jump.

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