SPOTLIGHT ON
MCM Furniture Designers & Makers
(A work in progress...)
Mogens Kold, Denmark
Danish furniture maker Mogens Kold Mobelfabrik produced some of the most coveted furniture of the mid 20th century.
The revered Danish Furniture maker Mogens Kold collaborated with some of Denmarks leading architects and designers to produce high end, progressive furniture that is highly sought after today. Arne Hovmand-Olsen, Ib Kofod Larsen and Nanna Ditzel are just a few of the big names that have collaborated with Mogens Kold to create timeless Danish masterpieces.
The history of Mogens Kold can be traced back to 1914 when the Kold family established the Kerteminde Steam Sawmill and Vognfabrik. After a fire in 1925, head of the family, Martin Kold moved the company to Copenhagen's port area and developed it into the country's largest hardwood sawmill.
In 1950, Martin's son Mogens Kold, established Mogens Kold Mobelfabrik. The company quickly gained a reputation for its high end furniture designed by leading architects and designers. After a fire in 1958 Mogens Kold moved the company to a much larger factory and focused on exporting furniture to Europe, the UK and the burgeoning American market.
Mogens Kold was always very interested in the process of design and in 1972 was involved in creating one of Denmark's first design centres. In 1986 Mogens Kold handed over the business to his son Soren Cold. Unfortunately in the following year international sales plummeted and by the early 1990s the company was forced to cease production.
- https://mrbigglesworthy.co.nz/designers/100/mogens-kold
In the UK Danish contemporary furniture was its most popular from around 1957 to 1968 and Mogens Kold along with France + Son was one of the most successful suppliers of quality furniture to the UK market. Most of the pieces we see in the UK today will have been bought new by well off British buyers at a time when the British economy was at it’s strongest.
Mogens Kold labels from the 1960’s are really nice but they’re often to be found underneath cabinets and not are always noticeable. Not all their pieces are labelled. Some high-end retailers didn’t like to sell pieces that were labelled with makers names back in the 1960’s and prior to the early 1960’s their pieces were usually stamped.
Mogens Kold used a number of designers, the most prolific being Arne Hovmand-Olsen, Rud Thygesen, Ole Gjerlov-Knudsen, Adrian Heath and Leif Alring also designed regularly for them and apparently Nanna Ditzel and Ib Kofod-Larsen are known to have worked for them too.
Read more:
https://www.galerie-mobler.com/en/155__mogens-kold
