Mobilia no. 160
November 1968
Mette Bratvold [Editor]
Mette Bratvold [Editor]: Mobilia no. 160. Snekkersten, Denmark: Mobilia, November 1968. Original edition. Text in Danish, English, German and French. Perfect bound and side stapled wrappers. 96 [xxvi] pp. Multiple paper stocks. Fully illustrated articles in black and white and some color. Period furniture advertisements. Wrappers light worn but a very good or better copy.
10.25 x 10.18 magazine with 96 pages of articles and 24 pages of period furniture advertisements. The editors described their magazine thus: “Mobilia is an international subscription periodical for furniture, art, handicraft, etc. Mobilia is published in two issues, one of them in Danish and English, and the other one in Swedish and German, the text having been translated as a whole. Mobilia is issued to all members of Møbelfabrikantforeningen i Danmark [The Association of Danish Furniture manufacturers], of Møbelhandlernes Centralforening i Danmark [The Association of Furniture Dealers in Denmark], and of Indendørs Arkitekt Foreningen [The Association of Interior Architects]; in Sweden a collective subscription has been taken by Sveriges Möbelindustriförbund [The Association of Swedish Furniture Manufacturers]. “
Contents: This special issue celebrated the life and work of Arne Jacobsen
- Arne Jacobsen: Jørgen Kastholm. 88-page feature fully illustrated in color and black and white.
- Om: Torben Schmidt: The Lunning Prize 1968; Playthings from the Museum Of Modern Art, etc.
Includes advertising work by Fritzhansen-Møbler, A. Michelsen A/S, Arne Jacobsen, A/S Stelton, Carl F. Petersen, Cotil, J. L. Møller-Højbjerg-Denmark, Poulsen & Ragoczy, Domus Danica, Haimi, Yrjö Kukkapuro, Preben Schou Danish Furniture A/S, Johs. Andersen, J. O. Carlsson, Karl-Erik Ekselius, Besmer, Yfa, Louis Poulsen & Co. A/S, Gabriel Fredericia, Thonet, Skandinavisk Belysningsmässa, Ligna, and more.
Arne Jacobsen (1902–1971) began training as a mason before studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Arts, Copenhagen where he won a silver medal for a chair that was then exhibited at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Art Decoratifs in Paris. Influenced by Le Corbusier, Gunnar Asplund and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Jacobsen embraced a functionalist approach from the outset. He was among the first to introduce modernist ideas to Denmark and create industrial furniture that built upon on its craft-based design heritage.
First among Jacobsen's important architectural commissions was the Bellavista housing project, Copenhagen (1930-1934). Best known and most fully integrated works, are the SAS Air Terminal and the Royal Hotel Copenhagen for which Jacobsen designed every detail from sculptural furnishings such as his elegant Swan and Egg chairs (1957-1958) to textiles, lighting, ashtrays and cutlery.
During the 1960's, Jacobsen's most important work was a unified architectural and interior design scheme for St. Catherine's College, Oxford, which, like his earlier work for the Royal Hotel, involved the design of site-specific furniture. Jacobsen's work remains appealing and fresh today, combining free-form sculptural shapes with the traditional attributes of Scandinavian design, material and structural integrity.
In 1954 the four Scandinavian countries, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland arranged what proved to be the most important marketing effort ever for Scandinavian design—the monumental exhibition Design in Scandinavia. From 1954 to 1957 Design in Scandinavia toured the United States and Canada. The exhibition was presented in 27 cities, and it was a huge success, initiated by The Danish Society of Arts and Crafts and its sister organizations in the other participating countries.
Based on the success the four countries established what they called the Scandinavian Design Cavalcade, which had a lot of US press coverage as well. In that connection the July 1959 issue of House Beautiful was centered around The Scandinavian Look in U.S. Homes, and it was Denmark and Danish Design in particular that the magazine focussed on. Besides the editorial pages, the numerous ads illustrates that Danish modern furniture was increasingly gaining a stronghold among certain groups of American consumers.
Importers and retail chains like John Stuart Inc., George Tanier, Raymor and Dunbar etc. now sold Danish modern furniture in the US, and by now it was not only hand crafted furniture from the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibitions but also pieces from industrial furniture producers like Fritz Hansen, Søborg Møbelfabrik, Fredericia Furniture and many others. From the end of the 1950s Danish Department stores and other retailers produced comprehensive brochures and booklets in English with prices in US Dollars presenting Danish Design to American and other tourists.
Without exception, these stores all presented the narrative of Danish modern. “Denmark is known all over the world for its exquisite home furnishing, which are characterized by their outstanding design and superb craftsmanship” the department store Magasin claimed in its brochure “Danish Design.”