The Details

Throughout the production period spanning 1949 to present day, the Chieftain chair underwent several design and construction changes. Some changes were more subtle than others, and not all aesthetic changes were for the better. Once we understand some of the signature changes to the design we can easily assess the maker, and the date of the chair. There would have been some variation of construction depending on which cabinetmaker was making the chair at the time. We know that both Niels Vodder and Berner Mogensen made the chair at the Vodder workshop (likely others were too), which may account for some differing details – especially in the early stages of production. Ejnar Pedersen from P.P. Møbler specifically mentions that Niels Vodder outsourced many of his pieces, he did not outsource the Chieftain chair.

The Horn

The joinery of the horn was one easiest ways to tell who made the Chieftain chair. Niels Vodder and Ivan Schlechter used the step joint, Niels Roth Andersen has a straight joint, and Baker had a horn cap. According to Torkel Milling, a cabinetmaker working in the Niels Roth Andersen shop, they opted to drop the step joint in favour of a stronger straight joint. Baker on the other hand had employed a distinct cap, which was more suitable for factory production.

Photo: Classic step joint employed from 1949–mid-1960s

Photo: 1950s Baker Chieftain chair appears elongated and employs a step joint.

Photo: Detail of the Baker Furniture Chieftain chair by Finn Juhl in the 1950s shows a capped horn.

Seat Tabs

The metal tabs under the seat of the Chieftain chair changed over time. In the earliest iterations (1949–1951) made by Niels Vodder, the tabs appear to be hand cut steel, drilled and hand filed. There is not a lot of consistency to this period, and one gets the impression that Vodder simply used what scrap metal he had available in the shop to fashion the tabs. In 1952 the seat tabs appear to be die cut steel with smooth rounded corners. Later in the 60s, the tabs look to be more standardize, and die cut in brass.

Niels Roth Andersen’s seat tabs usually appear in brass, and are quite thick. NRA only used 3 tabs.

In the 1990s, Baker used adjustable circular seat tabs. These tabs appear to be very different than the typical Baker seat tabs that were used on all of the Finn Juhl 1950s chairs, which were machine die cut with a machine pressed counter sink.

Most Niels Vodder chairs appear with 3 tabs under the seat. However, some of the earliest chairs had 5 seat tabs. Evidence of this can be confirmed by the Newman chair (Art Institute of Chicago, 1949), the Interior52 chair (Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum, 1952), the Breuer chair (Marcel Breuer house, 1950). It’s important to note that the chair in Finn Juhl’s house has only 3 tabs.

Photo: The 1950 Breuer House chair with 5 tabs.

Wood

Niels Vodder: Teak, walnut, rosewood and imbuia

Ivan Schlechter: Mahogany.

Niels Roth Andersen: Teak, mahogany, and Brazilian rosewood.

One Collection: Teak, walnut, and maple.

Baker Furniture: Walnut

Arm Rests

Niels Vodder made the arm rests out of steel, which allowed for a sleek, wafer-like appearance. In approx. 1950 the armrest was changed slightly to be more shapely. During this transition it appears that Niels Vodder experimented with cast steel rather than planished steel. These cast steel armrests do not react to a magnet test, although they are steel. Only a few examples of cast steel can be found, and the production reverted to planished plate steel in 1952.

Photo: 1949 Cabinetmaker’s Exhibition chair with plate steel arms. It appears that the arms were a bit flatter than later chairs.

Photo: Later Niels Vodder chair with plate steel arms appears subtly more shapely after 1950/1951.

Photo: Cast steel arms made in 1951-52 ca. Magnet does not stick.

Image: 1952 Dansk Kunsthaanværk confirms the arms are made of aluminum in that year.

Photo: Planished steel arms are the most common. Magnet sticks.

Photo: 1950s Baker chair had cast aluminum arms with bolts threaded through the top of the arms.

Ivan Schlechter made the armrests in the same material as Niels Vodder, but had more padding over the steel. We can say that very little about the chair changed under Schlechter’s license, because the cabinetmaker responsible for making Schlechter’s chair was the very same cabinetmaker who made the chair in Niels Vodder’s shop, Berner Mogensen. P.P. Møbler hired Mogensen after Vodder’s shop closed, and Ivan continued using Berner to fabricate the chair. It has been said that Schlechter made a few arms in fiberglass, although we have never seen physical evidence of this.

Photo: Ivan Schlechter also made the arms in plate steel, with a slightly bulkier appearance due to more padding.

Niels Roth Andersen

One of the major differences of the Chieftain chair under the production Niels Roth Andersen’s shop was the fiberglass arms. According to NRA cabinetmaker Torkel Milling, fiberglass was the material used before NRA began making the chair, so it was continued with once NRA began production. Milling also commented that metal arms could damage the leather, and as an added benefit fiberglass was cheaper to produce than metal.

Photo: In a major departure from his predecessors, Niels Roth Andersen made the arms in fiberglass with a lot of padding.

Photo: One Collection returned to using plate steel in their arms, but made the arms even more shapely than Niels Vodder.

Winsor White, the VP of Design at Baker Furniture said that the 1950s Baker chair was made with cast aluminum arms. In the 1990s the chair was again put into production, but it was an abstract version of the original design. We can see from the original 1990s Baker catalogue, the arms were quite thick. It has been confirmed by Baker that the arms were made of molded plywood. We also know that the chair was not a commercial success, and was only on the market for a year or two, before being discontinued. After the discontinuation of the chair, large numbers of the leftover frames were sold in bulk to the secondary market (dealers). The chairs did not come with arms, so these chairs were retrofitted with a variety of fiberglass, or metal arms. Frankly, some of the aftermarket solutions looked better than the Baker wooden arms.

Photo: 1990s Baker chair with tacks under the arms holding the leather to the molded plywood.

Photo: The Baker 1990s chair has thick molded plywood arms with no wooden strips underneath. Via Wright

Buttons

There has been a false narrative that only the earliest chairs have 4 buttons. This is probably because the first chair shown at the Cabinetmaker’s Exhibit in 1949 had 4 buttons. But we know that the Interior 52 chair (made in 1952) has 3 buttons. We also know that Architect Arne Rudberger met Finn Juhl at the ‘H55’, Helsingborg 1955 World Fair, which resulted in the purchase of a 4 button chair (pictured below), thus proving Niels Vodder was making 4 button chairs after the Interior 52 (3 button) chair. It is presumed that the H55 chair was purchased/delivered after 1955, so for dating purposes it’s best to presume the chair is from 1956.

Spacer

The spacer on the backside of the chair is primarily a functional detail of the chair. It provides structural support for the backside of the seat shell. We know the Interior 52 chair has a sculpted wooden spacer with a rubber bushing on the end where it touches the seat shell. Chairs seen with a sculpted spacer with a rubber bushing are the earliest chairs made. This detail can also be seen on the very early chair in Finn Juhl’s house, and the 1950 Breuer chair (see image below). The Placitas Chair was purchased in 1955 at Den Permanente in Copenhagen, and it has a sculpted spacer. The Arne Rudberger chair from 1956 has a simple angular wooden block-style spacer, so we know the last year for the sculpted spacer was 1955.

Presumably the purpose for the rubber was to protect the leather when the upholsterer slid the piece of leather between the shell and the spacer. It was later deeme to be an unnecessary detail and dropped.

Photo: 1950 Breuer house chair shows the hand hewn wooden spacer with rubber bushing.

1950s Baker chair did not have a rubber bushing

Photo: Interior shows the rubber spacer on Finn Juhl’s personal chair.

Backrest

The earliest Niels Vodder made chairs have a boxier look because the scalloped bottom of the backrest was shorter than the later version of the chair. These chairs also had less padding in the lumbar portion of the backrest. The Interior52 chair has this boxier looking style, and the 1955 Placitas Chair appears to have the shorter backrest (but less boxy than the Interior52 or R&Co chair), however the Helsingborg 1956 chair evolves to a longer looking backrest. So the transition to the longer design occurs in 1956.

Photo: The earliest chairs appear to have a boxier appearance (left), while later chairs after 1955 have a longer appearance.

Photo comparison courtesy of @hovdingestolen

Photo: The Arne Rudberger chair from 1956 has the longer looking backrest, which becomes the standard look.

Photo: The Ivan Schlechter chairs backrest became more elongated, and the scalloped portion of the backrest lost some of it’s fluid curves.

Photo: The Baker chair backrest had a very distorted shape with poor poor button placement. Via Wright

Strip

Under the arm of the Chieftain chair there is a strip of wood that conceals the metal nuts and bolts that secure the steel arm plate. These strips are held on with screws. The earliest chairs have 5 screws, while the later chairs use only 3 screws. When the strip is removed we can see that the methods that Vodder employed for the bolts evolved quickly to phase out the recess sometime in the mid-fifties.

Photo: Chieftain from 1950 shows square bolt recesses that are clearly hand chiseled. The thin wall of wood was easily chipped.

Photo: The chair in Finn Juhl’s house is a very early chair, and it features a wooden strip that does not span the length of the arm. It also appears to show chips where the bolts recesses are. The only other known occurrance of this is on the chair found at the Chicago Art Institute.

Stile

The wooden stiles that support either side of the backrest is carved into a serpentine–like form. The stiles on the earliest chairs are formed by hand, while later chairs are machine formed. On rare occasions, the position of the stile changed to a more forward location, like on the Interior 52 chair (shown below).

Photo: The Niels Vodder stiles were all carved by hand.

Photo: Interior52 Chair has a narrow space.

Stamp