The Whisky Chair was designed by Finn Juhl in 1948 and is characterized by the designer’s artistic sense of shape, function, and detail. Finn Juhl played a groundbreaking role in the Danish Modern design movement as his sculptural furniture manifested Denmark’s position as a pioneering country within furniture design. The exclusive chair was originally presented at the Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibition in 1948, as part of Finn Juhl’s concept “The Living Room of an Art Collector”, but was not put into production. Finn Juhl always dared to stand alone and was unconcerned about the critics who found his designs too extravagant. Today, the time has finally come for one of the most daring designs to have its revival.
The Whisky Chair is not only extravagant, it is also playfully provocative – perhaps even borderline politically incorrect. The right armrest unfolds organically towards the end, making way for a handmade half-moon shaped brass tray. The tray can unfold into a full circle where a hole in the brass surface is shaped to hold a glass. Finn Juhl’s original watercolour drawing (included further down) from 1948 shows how two chairs fit perfectly together, as the right and left armrests are asymmetrical.
The chair is produced in exquisite American walnut of the finest quality and is upholstered by hand in leather and/or textile. Furthermore, the chair is crafted with characteristic brass feet. The Whisky Chair is overwhelmingly comfortable and invites you to partake in a special moment of immersion and enjoyment.
Upon purchase, customers will receive a unique mouth-blown glass crafted by Danish glassmaker Mikkel Yerst in Silkeborg, Denmark. Finn Juhl’s original drawing does not depict the glass, meaning that the chair itself has served as the inspiration for the powerful shape of the specially designed glass. The first 250 chairs sold are numbered and with each chair the customer will receive a complimentary bottle of a limited peat smoked single malt whisky, aged in an Amarone wine cask, by the award-winning Danish distillery Stauning Whisky.
Stauning Whisky is located just a few miles from the House of Finn Juhl workshop on the savage Danish West Coast, and the whisky is specially developed for the Finn Juhl Whisky Chair.
Hans Henrik Sørensen, co-founder of House of Finn Juhl, shares his thoughts on the relaunch of the chair:
“To us, it is simply extraordinary, that Finn Juhl designed a chair which incorporates a glass of whisky in this manner. In a way, it tells you all you need to know about him. He designed freely, without giving the commercial aspect of his creations much thought. However, his designs were always functionally justified. His pieces were often exclusive and certainly not within everyone’s reach. For this reason, the Whisky Chair was never put into production during Finn Juhl’s life, but remained merely a comment to the social democratic Denmark in the late 40’s, that did not allow for this type of extravagance.”
Hans Henrik Sørensen concludes:
“A design such as the Whisky Chair fits perfectly within our collection and the philosophy we ground ourselves in. We now have more than 50 Finn Juhl designs in the collection and commercial success is not our main focus when choosing to relaunch one of his iconic pieces. Instead, it is our passion to go to the greatest of lengths to recreate the comfort, details, and sensuousness of Finn Juhl’s designs.”
