Arnold Madsen 'Clam' chair, produced 1953-1960s

Arnold Madsen 'Clam' chair, produced 1953-1960s Beech, wool upholstery. 79 x 70 x 91 cm Manufactured by Vik and Blindheim. Footnotes: Provenance Bruun Rasmussen, Copenhagen, 'Finn Juhl and Design', 27 September 2012, lot 1164 Acquired from the above by the present owner Literature Form, 1947, p. 152 for a similar example The History of the Clam Chair by Oliver Fischer & Aaron FitzGerlad (www.dagmar-design.com) Arnold Madsen's iconic Clam Chair is arguably the most mysterious piece of furniture from Denmark's golden era of design in the mid-20th century. With its club-shaped legs, curved armrests and unique shape, the Clam Chair stands apart from most of its contemporaries in the Scandinavian Modern movement. This eccentric, playful armchair has become one of most sought-after and yet enigmatic examples of Danish design from the last 100 years, and for good reason. Danish design was at its creative zenith from the late 1930s through to its commercial peak in the early 1960s thanks to an explosion of creativity and a relentless desire to improve amongst a small community of designers and cabinetmakers. Against this cultural backdrop Arnold Madsen was something of an outsider, and it is no coincidence that his career-defining highlight - the Clam Chair - stands apart from most of the genre it inhabits, both in terms of style and aesthetic. The technical achievement of forming and joining the uniquely shaped, solid wood frame in the 1940s, during German occupation was a feat of cabinetmaking that is testament to the ingenuity and talent of the man who would become Arnold's business partner: Henry Schubell. The biomorphic form of the finished chair has an abstract yet organic feel, equal to Finn Juhl's celebrated early experimental work. Compared to the overtly classical themes still dominating the Danish design community in the 1940s, the Clam was nothing short of revolutionary in its vision. But above all Arnold created a chair that achieves the rare feat of pure comfort, thanks largely to its body hugging shape and perfectly proportioned arms. All this from the mind of an unassuming upholsterer with no technical training, at the start of what would be an accomplished career in furniture design quite late in life at the age of 37. Since the Clam Chair started to regain attention on the secondary market around 2013 various theories regarding the designer had been put forward. First Danish designer Viggo Boesen was suspected to be the author, then the Norwegian retailer Martin Olsen who had sold the Clam Chair at his stores in the 1950s, and lastly a suggestion was made that Danish architect Philip Arctander had produced for Danish retailer: Nordisk Staal og Mobelcentral. Today however thanks to extensive research and first hand accounts we can say beyond question that the creator of this most important Danish chair was upholsterer, designer and furniture manufacturer Arnold Madsen (1907-1989). The evidence gathered by a group of independent researchers and dealers is overwhelming. Above all, there are three witnesses to the events of the time who unanimously confirm Madsen's authorship: First, Madsen's daughter Johna Møhring-Andersen, also Flemming Schubell, whose father was Arnold Madsen's business partner and the carpentry genius who created the first frames; and lastly the Norwegian sales agent Ole Christian Hassing who licensed the design to be produced in Norway by the furniture company: Vik & Blindheim. On the basis of their coinciding testimonies the history of the Clam can be accurately reconstructed. Madsen's daughter Johna, born in 1943, grew up with the history of Madsen & Schubell - and with it the Clam Chair - very much a part of her life. She recalls with great clarity her father's life and work. 'My father was a furniture man, and the chair belonged to him and to our family,' she says. In the 1950s it was part of the furniture in the Madsen house. Her uncle also owned a rare version without arms which Arnold had given him as a gift. Her father would often talk of how he developed the Clam in his small basement workshop in Gothersgade, and how it went on to play a major role in his career, creating the creative and financial foundations for his commercial partnership with Henry Schubell that lasted for several decades. Madsen had lived a rather unsteady life until that point. He had emigrated to America at an early age, working variously as a sailor and unskilled laborer. After his return, he settled in Copenhagen and trained as an upholsterer. In his early thirties, he became self-employed and in 1943 moved into workshop premises in downtown Copenhagen. He was an ambitious and fiercely creative man from the start. Rather than merely refurbishing chairs and sofas for other manufacturers, he began to design his own furniture. Henry Schubell's son Flemming takes up the story: 'My father was an experienced carpenter and worked as a foreman at the furniture company Winther & Winding,' he says. 'One day an upholsterer named Arnold Madsen arrived there with a chair design for which he needed a frame. Numerous cabinetmakers had rejected the request.' The chair in question was the Clam. Henry Schubell saw that the chair frame would be difficult to make. The shape that Madsen had devised and formed organically by hand, seemed at first to be so impractical that conventional joinery methods would not withstand a person's weight without compromising the Clam's unique silhouette. Henry Schubell nevertheless agreed to the challenge and developed a fairly unique solution that did not require the backrest to be joined directly to the seat in one position, but instead spreading the weight of the seated person across various joints. Fleming Schubell: 'The joinery was so difficult to make with just a bandsaw that no one else could do it. As long as Winther & Winding produced the frames for Arnold Madsen, my father had to make all the parts himself,' says Flemming Schubell. The effort was worth it for both men. According to Flemming Schubell, Arnold Madsen was so impressed by Henry's skills that he offered him a business partnership. In 1945, the Clam went into serial production as the first model of the new furniture company: Madsen & Schubell and was an instant success. Many well-known Danish retailers soon included Madsen & Schubell in their product range including: Illums Bolighus, the Messen department stores and Copenhagen furniture store Nordisk Staal-og-Møbel Central. A few years later Madsen & Schubell expanded their business to the international market. In 1953 they met the Norwegian sales agent Sigurd Hassing, who worked for the Norwegian manufacturer Vik & Blindheim, at a furniture fair in Fredericia, Denmark. Hassing negotiated a licensing agreement with the pair, giving Vik & Blindheim the rights to produce designs by Madsen & Schubell in Norway including the Clam Chair and another iconic design of theirs: The Pragh Chair. Whilst Madsen & Schubell could continue to produce the Pragh Chair in Denmark at their own factory, the Clam Chair would be exclusive to Vik & Blindheim for their domestic market. Hassing's son Ole Christian recalls: 'My father convinced Arnold Madsen of the cooperation. Our families (went on to) become friends. There was a long business relationship between my father and Madsen and there is no doubt that Arnold Madsen designed the Clam,' says Hassing. 'My father talked a lot about furniture. He often mentioned Arnold Madsen, as well as the Clam Chair. Both belonged together.' While Madsen & Schubell stopped production of the Clam at their Copenhagen workshop around 1953, the chair continued to be produced in Norway. A 1958 Vik & Blindheim catalog shows the Clam, along with th For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing