RARE COT Danish JUNO COT by Viggo Einfeldt 1940's Midcentury Modern Cotbed Sebra ?300 ONO

[katherines]

I have for sale an original vintage cot bed designed in 1941 by legendary Danish architect Viggo Einfeldt. This is an extremely rare item, a midcentury modern design classic. It is an original wooden Juno cot, my parents bought it second hand in the 1960's and it's been slept in by lots of lovely babies including myself and my daughter. This cot has been remade under the name Sebra but this is an original Juno (I think it's the Juno 2). The cot can be extended and sides removed to make a toddler bed. Measures (as a cot) width 68cm, length 110cm, height 83cm. Overall condition is great for its age, it's been repainted over the years and some holes have been made in both sides this was to add screws & washers to keep the cot sides securely in place. I had a mattress made to fit it for my daughter and also a little extender piece for when it was converted in to a cot bed by a great Welsh company called Abaca Ltd, I can include a barely used mattress (no extender)if wanted. Price ?300 ONO (cash on collection) if buyer can collect by Weds 29th March from Goose Green end of Lordship Lane SE22

History of Juno

Viggo Einfeldt was not a furniture designer but an architect with his own design studio, a thriving business that thrived fine, until the German occupation of Denmark sat mostly construction halt.

After the occupation, it was almost impossible to obtain building materials, the bit which was available, was used by the Germans themselves, and would not be in the German construction, had to necessarily think in new ways if the transaction were to survive.

The two models are very similar, the shapes are soft and round, and both models sitting round stick know of grilles and gables so close that no heads can be trapped, but not closer than the child's sense of touch and vision is preserved.

Juno 2 was next to the family, it is the best known of the two, the one with the short poles in the side and that many know as the " Small Per bed'

This model was cheaper to produce, and as the first guard, can put grids within the bed, right down to bottom so as to create a lower grille.

Both models were also supplied with the original JUNO MATTRESSES, a two-piece mattress and an extra mattress piece, ready for use when the bed to "grow with the child."

Both beds were carefully thought through quality products.

The shapes were round and kid-friendly, and the beds were neat in their pretty pastel colors, white, cream, light blue, pink, light yellow and light green.

It was a beautiful sight when the freshly painted beds in the fine colors were lined up for curing before being packed and picked up by the hauler, and run on to Illum, Magasin, Daells Department store, Crome & Goldsmith and many other customers across the country.

It was the architect's thirteen year old daughter who was allowed to name the new bed. She was inspired by Salmon's Encyclopedia and the goddess Juno, "the divine protector of her life as a wife and mother" (Salmon's Lexicon Volume 13, page 251), and Juno was a good name for the new bed.

Under the motto "BED THAT GROWS WITH THE CHILD" went the sale of Juno bed swimmingly, it was actually hard to keep up with demand, mostly because of the perpetual shortage of materials.

It was still difficult to obtain both paint and wood, but in spite of this production was soon anyway so great that Viggo Einfeldt had to move "Bed Factory Default" from Holbergsgade 20 in Copenhagen to larger premises in New Vesterg?rdsvej in Lille V?rl?se.

Viggo Einfeldt died in 1955 , but the old beds are still living, and living well, the style is timeless and fits nicely in future interior. Today, new cots approved by the authorities, the Juno bed could obtain such approval, I could not say, I just know that Viggo Einfeldt was among the first who were interested in the child's safety, he made a good product, and I've never heard of any unfortunate incident with a Juno bed.

Now bed several years behind than the architect himself was, time will tell how many more it gets, but I predict that many yet, for good and thoughtful design lasts long.