Taek Coffee or Side Table by Severin Hansen for Bovenkamp, 1960s

Danish furniture designer Severin Hansen Jr. is best remembered for his table and desk designs in the classic, Danish midcentury modern style. In the 1950s and early '60s, his work was produced by Haslev Møbelsnedkeri—a furniture manufacturer located in the small town of Haslev, close to Copenhagen—as well as Dutch manufacturer Bovenkamp. Hansen's also known for his collaboration with venerable Danish porcelain company Royal Copenhagen, which produced a series of rosewood tables surfaced with ceramic tiles handpainted and glazed by artists like Grethe Helland-Hansen and Nils Thorssen.

Though little is known about Hansen’s life, his designs are increasingly popular among vintage lovers, who hold him in high esteem for his high quality joinery and materials. Hansen’s dining tables, nesting tables, coffee tables, and sewing tables were produced almost exclusively in rosewood and mahogany, with a small number made from teak. Minimalist in detail, they are characterized by angular silhouettes and tapered legs—exemplars of 1960s Scandinavian idiom.

Dutch furniture company Bovenkamp was active in the 1950s and 1960s, based in Hilversum, the Netherlands. While little information about the company’s history has survived, Bovenkamp chairs, lounges, and tables are seeing something of a revival on the secondary market today, attracting enthusiastic collectors thanks to the furniture’s solid, hardwood construction and clean, sculptural lines—clearly influenced by Scandinavian design examples popular in the postwar era. Bovenkamp furniture is easily identified through the company’s mark found on the undersides each piece.

Some dealers in vintage Bovenkamp furniture assert that the company began life as an importer of Scandinavian furniture before opting to produce its own line in the Netherlands, and that this accounts for the Danish design-inspired tapered legs, elegant joinery, and heavy use of teak. As of this writing, however, this fact can only be verified anecdotally.

Notably, Bovenkamp collaborated with a number of Danish designer-craftsmen, such as Arne Vodder and Aksel Bender Madsen, who also worked with manufacturers like Fritz Hansen, France & Sons, and Sibast.