Unique 'Ross' Coffee Table
1948
Designed and executed in 1948.
Pained tubular steel, teak 'shoes', teak, brass.
Provenance:
Professor Alf Ross;
Hence by descent in the family.
History:
Finn Juhl designed the furniture for the home of Alf Ross. Only this very table made by cabinetmaker Niels Vodder exists. The black-and-white photo shows Alf Ross and family around the table, with the previous owner is sitting on his lap. The table is part of a series of tables from around 1945–1950 where Finn Juhl most clearly obliterates the distinction between function and artistic expression. He uses different materials, each of which point to their functional purpose, while at the same time transforming it to a sculpture due to their different colours and shapes. The ¨Ross¨ table with the straight lines on the frame, circle motif on the organic top, balancing on the rounded teak “shoes”, is significantly inspired by the Swiss artist Sophie Tauber-Arp and her works and thoughts on balance and movement. It is furniture art in the most literal sense. The recess in the brass plate is presumably, similar to Finn Juhl's table from 1945, intended to accommodate the pewter vase with glass lid (Model A1432) that Björn Trägårdh designed for Firma Svenskt Tenn in 1930.
Literature:
Sommer, Anne Louise, 'Watercolours by Finn Juhl', Strandberg Publishing (Denmark) 2015.
Archive, 'Design Museum Denmark', Two original drafts for the table; a version in oak with a green lacquered frame and a version in teak with a white lacquered frame. Alf Ross went with the white version, the other version is painted in the above literature.
Ref: 2309032
| H | 56cm/22.0" |
| W | 120cm/47.2" |
| D | 60cm/23.6" |
H. 56cm/22.0"
W. 120cm/47.2"
D. 60cm/23.6"