Henry Hans Schubell was an experienced cabinetmaker at the age of 38 when he received an inquiry from Arnold Johan Madsen in 1944 to make a frame for an armchair. Madsen had a plaster model with him, and Schubell immediately saw that it would not be easy. Several cabinetmakers had already refused the task because the angle and load distribution of the chair was such that a traditional connection between the seat and backrest did not seem possible. But Schubell was not deterred.
The carpenter from Elsinore had been a journeyman at the furniture company Winther & Winding since 1925. Also because of his excellent craftsmanship he had worked his way up to foreman, and the job spurred him on.
For Madsen’s chair, he invented a special connecting piece, formed from only one piece of wood, to which the rest of the seat and backrest were glued. (See pic 2, drawing made by Flemming Schubell) This connection was complex. The piece of wood had to be turned and twisted at an angle on the band saw. According to Henry’s son Flemming, no one else at Winther and Winding was able to do this, so Henry had to make all the connecting parts for the clam chair himself.
In original chairs from Madsen and Schubell, this connection can still be seen under the upholstery fabric today. (pic 3, by @dagmarlondon) The sometimes expressed assumption that the clam was poorly crafted is therefore not entirely correct.
