Danish Luxury

Design Furniture House of Finn Juhl

Pelican Chair

Finn Juhl's rounded, fully upholstered easy chair of 1940, first put into production by House of Finn Juhl in 2001.

Designed by
Finn Juhl
First made
1940

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The Pelican Chair on walnut legs
The Pelican Chair on walnut legs

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

Why it is renowned

The Pelican Chair is among the earliest of Finn Juhl's sculptural chairs, and its soft, bodily form shows the influence of the sculptor Jean Arp that stayed with him through his career.12 Critics at its first showing called it a "tired walrus".21 It waited 61 years for production and is now one of his best-loved works.1

The story

Finn Juhl showed the chair at the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers' Guild Exhibition in 1940.1 Only the two pieces made for that exhibition were produced, and the design was largely forgotten for decades.1 Juhl usually named his furniture after the year of its design; this one became known simply as the Pelican.1 House of Finn Juhl first put it into production in 2001, as model FJ 4000, or FJ 4001 with buttons on the back.1 It has a loose seat cushion, is upholstered by hand in Denmark in textile, sheepskin or leather, and stands on legs of oak, walnut or black-painted wood.1

Sources
  1. The Pelican Chair, House of Finn Juhl. finnjuhl.com, read 1 October 2026.
  2. Finn Juhl, Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org, read 1 October 2026.

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