Danish Luxury

Design Furniture House of Finn Juhl

45 Chair

Finn Juhl's armchair of 1945, whose upholstered seat and back are carried free of the wooden frame, made again by House of Finn Juhl since 2003.

Designed by
Finn Juhl
First made
1945

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The 45 Chair in walnut with leather
The 45 Chair in walnut with leather

Pictures © House of Finn Juhl, from finnjuhl.com.

Why it is renowned

The 45 Chair was the first in which Finn Juhl lifted the seat and back clear of the frame that carries them, the idea that runs through his later chairs.1 The Victoria and Albert Museum in London holds an early example made by the cabinetmaker Niels Vodder (CIRC.452-1969) and counts it among the most influential chairs of the mid-twentieth century.2 The Japanese collector Noritsugu Oda has called it "the mother of all modern chairs".1

The story

Finn Juhl showed the chair at the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers' Guild Exhibition in the autumn of 1945.1 It was made by Niels Vodder, at the start of their long work together, and critics praised its arm, shaped like a bone to carry the arm and the weight of the body.21 Juhl and Vodder later turned it into two- and three-seat sofas.2 House of Finn Juhl put it back into production in 2003 as model FJ 4500, with a frame of oak or walnut and seat and back upholstered by hand in Denmark in textile or leather.1

Sources
  1. The 45 Chair, House of Finn Juhl. finnjuhl.com, read 1 October 2026.
  2. Model FJ 45, Victoria and Albert Museum. api.vam.ac.uk, read 1 October 2026.

Last checked 1 October 2026, against the maker's own pages.