Finn Juhl Danish Modern modular Cresco unit.

[volvoguy87]

Well, I inherited a rather nice find from my grandmother. A modular Cresco "wall unit" in teak! I am curious to know more about it.

From the research I've done, I've found the designer was Finn Juhl. He designed it for France & Son. I believe mine dates to the mid to late 1960s.

I am curious to know how long the Cresco was in production, how popular they were, and what different component modules were available. I know they were available in rosewood, as well as teak. I'm also curious to know how they were sold when new, and what market segment bought them.

I'll post pictures later this weekend as I re-assemble and set up this lovely little monster. It's very sturdy!

Dave

 

[volvoguy87]

It's partially together!

 

[volvoguy87]

Still not done.

 

[vacerator]

Love that!

I have three teak, oak, and mahogany veneer mid century Dillingham low boy chests. One has doors. Made in Wisconsin. I got them used in 1980 along with a Goldmember style bright saddle leather swivel chair and ottoman with chrome pedestal bases.
I left the chair with my ex. I'm sure it's history by now.
The chests are in rough shape by now, but if better, worth about $500 each.

 

[petek]

Very nice.

 

[davey7]

Very nice, my grandmothers "danish modern" stuff was Scandinavian Bouffant* (i.e. knockoff stuff) - Finn Juhl's house is open for visitors and features a lot of his designs, often heavy on accent colors with the teak. Is the teak solid or veneer - I think that it would have still been solid at that time.

*Sweden was the land of big hair in the 60's.

 

[volvoguy87]

It's a mix.

There is some veneer, but quite a lot of solid teak as well. The shelves are all solid (and heavy), but some of the fronts of the modules are veneer. I believe the doors are solid. The base is also solid. The veneer is not applied to anything cheap, but to nice sturdy wood.

I hope to have it fully together this weekend.
Dave

 

[davey7]

So, like, are all the Volvo owners on AW named Dave or what?

 

[combo52]

Teak Furniture

Very nice looking piece. I still have a lot of Scandinavian teak and rosewood furniture in my home that came from the cooperative furniture company named Scan. Scan was started by Greenbelt Consumers Services where my Father worked most of his life and in the late 60s and early 70s they were by far the largest importer of Scandinavian furniture in the US.

 

Dave your piece would be mostly veneer as would any good piece of furniture like this. Solid wood would be very prone to warping and splitting and no decent manufacturer would try to make a shelf out of a single piece of wood.

 

Most teak and rosewood furniture like this is just finished by applying furniture oil and it is good to apply oil periodically to keep it looking good.

 

[davey7]

My parents spent a lot of money over the years at Scan (we had one in our local cooperatively owned shopping center). I think they were bought out by Scandinavian Design which still has one store in the Chicago areas, in Skokie.