Niels Otto Møller (1920-1982) was a Danish designer. Møller completed his apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker in 1939 and went on to train at the Danish Design school in Århus, Denmark. He is best known for his elegant, clean-lined furniture in teak and rosewood and for his fine craftsmanship.
Møller designed the No. 71 chair in 1951 and it became one of his most popular designs. He went on to design other dining chairs and tables, coffee tables, sideboards and cabinets and serving carts but the No. 78 chair, launched in 1962, is considered his most impressive design, its subtle and elegant features rendering it a standard for design and quality of production.
In 1944 he founded the J. L. Møller Møbelfabrik in Århus. In the 1960s his sons Jens Ole Møller and Jørgen Henrik Møller completed their training in cabinetmaking and joined the company. It is still run today by Jørgen Henrik Møller. His eldest son Michael has now joined the firm and plans to continue in the business.
His son says, "My father never compromised on anything. When he designed a chair, he would find the materials and then design the furniture. Each design took him five years to complete." As a result, the company has won many awards, including the Danish Furniture Prize in 1974 and 1981.
From jlm.dk, mid-centuryonline.com, deconet.com and dwr.com
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Model 55 armchair*
1stdibs.com |
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Model 71*
scandinavianmod.com |
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Model 78
deconet.com |
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Model 78 close-up
adoremodern.com |
*There is some
controversy over whether the Model 71 chair and the Model 55 were designed by Møller or by Arne Hovmand-Olsen. I have read that J
. L. Møllers Møbelfabrik attributed the designs to each man in different catalogs, although I have not seen actual copies of both catalogs. Credit for the design of both the Model 71 chair and the Model 55 chair in 1951 are both given to N. O. Møller on the current
J. L. Møllers Møbelfabrik website under the Products tab.
