finn juhl 45 restored
mr. laurie watching the 1969 moon landing from the comfort of the finn juhl 45
Finn Juhl 45, of House of Finn Juhl, the First of Her Name, “the mother of all modern chairs” ~Noritsugu Oda.
Per the Finn Juhl website: “In the autumn of 1945, Finn Juhl presented the 45 Chair at the annual Cabinetmakers' Guild Exhibition. Today, the chair is widely regarded as one of the most revolutionary and iconic pieces in Danish furniture design.”
Our 45 is a family heirloom with a story. It was brought into our Monterey style Altadena Home in the 60's by our design-loving mom, Sibyl, and became our father's pipe smoking chair in the den. (I took my first puff in it, as a toddler.) It kept company with an eclectic mix of other notable mid century pieces, European antiques and Mexican touches. She saw countless episodes of Ed Sullivan, Laugh-In, Sonny and Cher and Soul Train. Our neighbor, Frank Laurie, b. Essex, 1874, from the comfort of the Finn Juhl 45, watched the Apollo 11 moon landing of ‘69 in black and white.
Last year, I pulled our rumpled sleeping beauty out of storage and the renowned Alfie Hume of Hume Modern became a part of that story. an Englishman, he runs a huge atelier in los angeles, cA and fills it with good music. Hume guided me to the Maharam textile book. as a salute to the original, I settled on the Petra Silversmith with the Valor in Daze. within a few weeks, i was able to bring her home.
finn juhl 45 - Complete restoration by alfie hume of hume modern
Mr. Hume has done a magnificent job. The impeccable stitching, the pleating, the leather. The light-handed finish. It had to be stabilized and completely re-built. All the original webbing and fabric and every nail sent home with us in a time capsule.
Across the decades, the 45's exquisite design endures. But Hume has given us so much more than a chair. For my siblings and me, she remains the piece, the portal to a time and a place and a family, and a beautiful reminder of what was so special about our mom. She would be so thrilled. And the story continues...
Specializing in Finn Juhl and Eames Lounger restoration and sales (Shipping Available), Hume Modern is the only firm I’d trust to restore my Treasured mid Century pieces. How lucky we are to have him here in L.a.
resources, gifts, collect:
Hume Modern - Furniture restoration
Hume Modern - Finn Juhl Restoration
Finn Juhl 45 - Contemporary and restored chairs available on 1st Dibs
“Finn Juhl: Life, Work, World” - Hardcover
Watercolors by finn juhl - Hardcover
Charles & Ray Eames: 1907-1978, 1912-1988: Pioneers of Mid-century Modernism - Hardcover