[Furniture by Hans J. Wegner / Georg Jensen, Inc.
Sole Distributor]
Georg Jensen, Inc.
New York: Georg Jensen, Inc., [1966]. Original edition. Fabricoid covered chipboard slipcase titled in black to upper panel and spine. Elaborately packaged promotion from Georg Jensen showcasing the factory produced designs of Hans J. Wegner with five separate uniformly designed catalogues for AP–Stolen, Getama A/S, Carl Hansen & Søn, Møbelfabrik A/S, and A/S Ry Møbler, and Andr. Tuck; a Furniture Price List dated June 1967; a Børge Mogensen catalogue for A/S Fredericia Stolefabrik; and a signed letter on Frederick Lunning letterhead. Trivial wear detailed below, but an overall fine, complete set of this elaborate promotional set.
Slipcase includes the following uniformly sized eight items:
- Georg Jensen, Inc.: AP – STOLEN [Designed by Hans. J. Wegner]. New York: Georg Jensen, Inc., [1966]. Original edition. Text in English with specifications in Danish, German and English. Slim quarto. Photo illustrated French folded wrappers. Plain white card covers. [68] pp. Furniture specifications with measured diagrams and artistically presented black and white halftone photography by Keld Helmer-Petersen and Louis Schnakenburg. 8.75 x 8.75-inch elegant perfect bound catalog of all of the furniture designs by Hans J. Wegner manufactured by AP–Stolen, circa 1966. Curatorial information includes name, dimensions, finishes supported with both diagrams and photography. A coin sized dampstain to rear wrapper lower corner, otherwise a fine, uncirculated copy.
- Georg Jensen, Inc.: GETAMA A/S [Designed by Hans. J. Wegner]. New York: Georg Jensen, Inc., [1966]. Original edition. Text in English with specifications in Danish, German and English. Slim quarto. Photo illustrated French folded wrappers. Plain white card covers. [68] pp. Furniture specifications with measured diagrams and artistically presented black and white halftone photography by Keld Helmer-Petersen and Louis Schnakenburg. 8.75 x 8.75-inch elegant perfect bound catalog of all of the furniture designs by Hans J. Wegner manufactured by Getama A/S, circa 1966. Curatorial information includes name, dimensions, finishes supported with both diagrams and photography. Tiny dampstain to front wrapper lower corner, otherwise a fine, uncirculated copy.
- Georg Jensen, Inc.: CARL HANSEN & SØN, MØBELFABRIK A/S [Designed by Hans. J. Wegner]. New York: Georg Jensen, Inc., [1966]. Original edition. Text in English with specifications in Danish, German and English. Slim quarto. Photo illustrated French folded wrappers. Plain white card covers. [52] pp. Furniture specifications with measured diagrams and artistically presented black and white halftone photography by Keld Helmer-Petersen and Louis Schnakenburg. 8.75 x 8.75-inch elegant perfect bound catalog of all of the furniture designs by Hans J. Wegner manufactured by Carl Hansen & Søn, Møbelfabrik A/S, circa 1966. Curatorial information includes name, dimensions, finishes supported with both diagrams and photography. A fine, uncirculated copy.
- Georg Jensen, Inc.: A/S RY MØBLER [Designed by Hans. J. Wegner]. New York: Georg Jensen, Inc., [1966]. Original edition. Text in English with specifications in Danish, German and English. Slim quarto. Photo illustrated French folded wrappers. Plain white card covers. [58] pp. Furniture specifications with measured diagrams and artistically presented black and white halftone photography by Keld Helmer-Petersen and Louis Schnakenburg. 8.75 x 8.75-inch elegant perfect bound catalog of all of the furniture designs by Hans J. Wegner manufactured by A/S Ry Møbler, circa 1966. Curatorial information includes name, dimensions, finishes supported with both diagrams and photography. A fine, uncirculated copy.
- Georg Jensen, Inc.: ANDR. TUCK [Designed by Hans. J. Wegner]. New York: Georg Jensen, Inc., [1966]. Original edition. Text in English with specifications in Danish, German and English. Slim quarto. Photo illustrated French folded wrappers. Plain white card covers. [88] pp. Furniture specifications with measured diagrams and artistically presented black and white halftone photography by Keld Helmer-Petersen and Louis Schnakenburg. 8.75 x 8.75-inch elegant perfect bound catalog of all of the furniture designs by Hans J. Wegner manufactured by Andr. Tuck, circa 1966. Curatorial information includes name, dimensions, finishes supported with both diagrams and photography. A fine, uncirculated copy.
- Georg Jensen, Inc.: FURNITURE DESIGNED BY BØRGE MOGENSEN [A/S Fredericia Stolefabrik]. Fredericia, Denmark: A/S Fredericia Stolefabrik, November 1966]. Original edition. Text in Danish, German and English. Slim quarto. Metallic printed French folded wrappers with Lunning Division sticker. Color frontis. 38 pp. Furniture specifications artistically presented black and white halftone photography by Mogens S. Koch. 8.75 x 8.75-inch elegant perfect bound catalog of all of the furniture designs by Børge Mogensen manufactured by A/S Fredericia Stolefabrik, circa 1966. Curatorial information includes name and dimensions. Metallic wrappers lightly fingerprinted, otherwise a fine, uncirculated copy.
- Georg Jensen, Inc.: FURNITURE PRICE LIST. New York: Georg Jensen, Inc., June 1967. Original edition. Text in English. Slim quarto. Saddle stitched self wrappers. [28] pp. Furniture price lists with additional information on custom variations on materials and finishes. Lightly handled, but a nearly fine copy.
- Printed letter SIGNED by Bruno E. Aldor [Furniture Division] on Frederick Lunning Letterhead. Notice of showroom relocation to 979 Third Avenue from the original 667 Fifth Avenue location, with description of contents of this promotional slipcase. Wear to upper and lower edges, very good.
Hans J. Wegner (Denmark, 1914 – 2007) is widely considered to be one of the leading figures in 20th century furniture design - and a driving force in the “Danish Modern” movement that changed the way people looked at furniture in the 1950s and 1960s.
Hans J. Wegner was born in 1914 in Tønder, the son of a shoemaker. At the age of 17 he was apprenticed to a carpenter (H. F. Stahlberg) and it was at this time that he developed his first design. At the age of 20 he moved to Copenhagen to study at the institution now known as The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design but which back then went under the more modest title of “The Artisan College.”
He studied there from 1936-1938, before taking further studies as an architect. In 1940 Wegner initiated a joint project with Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller in Aarhus, which involved fitting out Aarhus' town hall. It was also in 1940 that Wegner began to work with Master Carpenter Johannes Hansen, a man who played a significant role in bringing modern design to the Danish public. The then Copenhagen Industrial Art Museum (now Design Museum Denmark) purchased their first Wegner chair in 1942. Hans J. Wegner opened his own design studio in 1943, and in 1944 he designed his first “China Chair” in a series inspired by the Chinese Emperor's thrones.
One of the chairs in this series is what is probably Wegner's most famous work “The Wishbone Chair,” which he designed in 1949, and which Carl Hansen & Søn have manufactured since 1950. Hans J. Wegner is regarded as one of the world's outstanding furniture designers. He was one of the motive forces behind the Danish Modern movement which did much to change people's view of furniture in the 1950s and 60s. His design retain relevance for us today and his sense for details is a source of constant wonder.
Wegner has received a number of prizes and recognitions. Amongst other things, he is an honorary member of The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and has received an honorary doctorate from the Royal College of Art in London. He was also the first ever recipient of the Lunning Prize and received the 8th International Design Award in Osaka, Japan. His works are exhibited at major international museums including The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and Die Neue Sammlung in Munich.
This Georg Jensen material shows the importance of Frederik Lunning (1881–1952) the indefatigable agent who began displaying in the lobbies of the finest hotels in the city, and who established the Georg Jensen store on 5th Avenue.
The post-war perspective of the Georg Jensen New York store changed drastically in 1949 when Lunning hired a new manager, a Dane named Kai Dessau. What had become an unwieldy general store selling mostly American-made merchandise was transformed into a trade center for Nordic handicraft and decorative art. Lunning was excited by the high quality and elegance of what in the ’50s came to be called Scandinavian Modern, and decided to supply moral and financial support. His Lunning Prize, a traveling scholarship to be awarded each year to two outstanding young Nordic craftsmen or industrial designers, was first presented on his 70th birthday, Dec. 21, 1951. The $400 awards were funded by profits from the New York Jensen shop sales.
The years of the Lunning Prize Foundation, 1951-1970, span the two remarkably fruitful decades of the Scandinavian Modern industrial and crafts design movement. Prize winners such as silversmith-jewelers Henning Koppel of Denmark, Greta Prytz Kittelsen of Norway, Torun Bulow-Hube of Sweden and Bjorn Weckstrom of Finland all later became internationally known. Ironically, Lunning died the year after establishing the prize - on Aug. 31, Georg Jensen’s birthdate!
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 1963 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 1963 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, Raynor 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.”