Teak File Holder by Ejner Larsen & Aksel Bender Madsen for Willy Beck
EJNER LARSEN & AKSEL BENDER MADSEN
Depth - 33cm - 13 inches
Height - 15.5cm - 6¼ inches
'Produced by Cabinetmaker Willy Beck Copenhagen Denmark / Architects: A. Bender Madsen and Ejner Larsen'.
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A solid teak tabletop file holder designed by Ejner Larsen and Aksel Bender Madsen and made in the Copenhagen workshop of master cabinetmaker Willy Beck. We date this example to the late 1950s.
The sides slope back from a projecting front ledge, with a long, shallow pen tray cut directly into the teak. A slim shelf divides the interior into two tiers. The lower compartment runs the full width, while an off-centre divider forms a wide pigeonhole on the upper left and a smaller one on the right.
It makes a handsome addition to a desk, hallway console or sideboard, with space to organise letters and paperwork and keep pens close at hand. The finished teak back allows the piece to stand in the centre of a desk, and four pads beneath the base help protect the surface.
Larsen and Bender Madsen worked closely with Willy Beck for some 25 years. His workshop made many of their designs for the annual Copenhagen Cabinetmakers’ Guild exhibitions. A metal label pinned to the underside of the file holder names Willy Beck of Copenhagen as the cabinetmaker and credits “Ejner Larsen and A. Bender Madsen” as the architects.
This appears to be a rare design. The example illustrated in Bruun Rasmussen’s 2015 catalogue is the one offered here, and we have been unable to trace another.
The teak has been cleaned, oiled and waxed. The file holder is in excellent vintage condition, with minor signs of use, including a small, faint mark on the top.
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Provenance
Bruun Rasmussen, Copenhagen, Nordic Design, 11 June 2015, auction 857, lot 1202, illustrated on p. 85.
Subsequently in a private collection, London.