Peder Moos (27 January 1906, in
Sønderborg
(; german: Sonderburg ) is a Danish town in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Sønderborg Municipality (Kommune). The town has a population of 27,766 (1 January 2022),[Tønder
Tønder (; german: Tondern ) is a town in the Region of Southern Denmark. With a population of 7,505 (as of 1 January 2022), it is the main town and the administrative seat of the Tønder Municipality.
History
The first mention of Tønder might ...]
) was a Danish furniture designer and cabinetmaker who crafted nearly all his pieces himself.
The son of a farmer, he attended Askov Højskole, a
folk High School
Folk high schools (also ''Adult Education Center'', Danish: ''Folkehøjskole;'' Dutch: ''Volkshogeschool;'' Finnish: ''kansanopisto'' and ''työväenopisto'' or ''kansalaisopisto;'' German: ''Volkshochschule'' and (a few) ''Heimvolkshochschule;' ...
, before training as a cabinetmaker in
Jutland
Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
and later in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
. From 1926 to 1929, he worked in Paris, Geneva and Lausanne. In 1935, he moved into
Bredgade in Copenhagen where he started his own workshop which he maintained for 20 years. He attended evening classes at the
Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts
The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark.
History
The Royal Dan ...
where he studied under Einar Utzon-Franck and
Kaare Klint
Kaare Klint (15 December 1888 – 28 March 1954) was a Danish architect and furniture designer, known as the father of modern Danish furniture design. Style was epitomized by clean, pure lines, use of the best materials of his time and super ...
.
["Peder Moos: Dansk arkitekt, møbelsnedker og formgiver"]
''Gravsted.dk''. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
Moos designed a bed that could slide in and out of his window so that he could sleep in the fresh air. He worked in a special way, finding the wood he needed himself and making his furniture before drafting the plans. His pieces, which were made to order, were unique in their elegance. His style is reminiscent of
art nouveau but more delicate and refined. Working mainly with wood, he would sand his pieces several times with very fine sandpaper, washing them off each time. This resulted in an especially fine finish. In place of nails and screws, he used dowels and wedges in another kind of wood, creating special effects almost like
marquetry
Marquetry (also spelled as marqueterie; from the French ''marqueter'', to variegate) is the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns, designs or pictures. The technique may be applied to case fur ...
. He only created some 30 to 40 pieces, but each one is quite distinctive.
[Gitte Just, "Peder Moos"]
''Fri'', 20 October 2007. Retrieved 15 November 2011.[
Apart from a trolley and a triangular coffee table manufactured by ]Fritz Hansen
Fritz Hansen, also known as Republic of Fritz Hansen, is a Danish furniture design company. Designers who have worked for Fritz Hansen include Arne Jacobsen (1902–1971), Poul Kjærholm (1929–1980), Hans J. Wegner (1914–2007) and Piet Hein ...
, Moos produced all his furniture himself. If customers asked what a piece would cost, he would reply: "If we have to think in terms of price, the result will not be as good as it could be. We'll see how it works out. If you think it is too expensive, I'll hold on to the furniture and sell it to someone else." More often than not, customers who left their furniture behind because they thought it was too expensive would change their minds and pick it up a few weeks later.[
In 1956, Moos moved to ]Funen
Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as of ...
where he taught at the School of Crafts (''Den danske Husflidshøjskole'') in Kerteminde
Kerteminde (nickname: ''Min Amandas by'', i.e. ''My Amanda's town''), is a town in central Denmark, located in Kerteminde Municipality on the island of Funen. The town has a population of 6,042 (1 January 2022). . He opened a workshop in Bredebro in the south of Jutland in 1962. His furniture has been exhibited in Stockholm, the Hague and New York's MoMA. It brings in high prices at auctions, a table with silver rivets selling for a record DKK 445,000 in 2005.[ In 2015, one of his dining tables were sold for 6 million DKK and in 2016 a stool were sold for DKK 860.000.]
See also
*Danish modern
Danish modern is a style of minimalist furniture and housewares from Denmark associated with the Danish design movement. In the 1920s, Kaare Klint embraced the principles of Bauhaus modernism in furniture design, creating clean, pure lines based ...
*Danish design
Danish design is a style of functionalistic design and architecture that was developed in mid-20th century. Influenced by the German Bauhaus school, many Danish designers used the new industrial technologies, combined with ideas of simplicity ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moos, Peder
Danish furniture designers
1906 births
1991 deaths
Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni
People from Sønderborg Municipality