remarkable c. 1950's finely crafted solid walnut wood jens risom-designed revolving top four-legged circular-shaped coffee table salvaged from the president's office of a notable chicago foundry complex. the well-built mid-century modern table consists entirely of solid walnut with the original varnished finish largely intact. the stationary base consists of angular and tapered low-lying legs that are interconnected along the table's underside, where the ball bearing rings is mounted. the smooth and even tabletop rotates with ease or with very little resistance. the spider-like legs are rigid and sound in construction. the original paper label with the designer's name is found perfectly intact against the underside of the table. jens risom was one of the first designers to bring traditional scandanavian values of function and craftsmanship to the united states. he was part of the new vanguard that helped establish post-war america’s leadership role in the world of modern furniture design and manufacturing. risom was born in copenhagen in 1916, son of architect, sven risom. jens risom was trained as a designer at the copenhagen school of industrial arts and design, where he studied under ole wanscher and kaare klint. from 1935 – 1938, along with classmates hans wegner and borge mogensen, risom learned the value of simplicity and utility from master craftsmen who also headed up the furniture school at the royal danish academy of fine arts. in the late 1930's, risom arrived in the united states, eager to expand his education in the field of modern furniture design. the 23-year-old danish designer soon learned that there were few opportunities. at the same time a growing number of young american architects were looking for furniture that would fit into the new smaller open-plan homes being designed at that time. in 1941, having recently completed plans for a new furniture department for georg jensen in new york city, risom joined forces with hans knoll, a young energetic entrepreneur who, though he understood the basics of the furniture business, was not a designer. finding they made a good team together, the two set out with their wives on a cross-country tour visiting modern architects while simultaneously gaining a better understanding of the potential market for a new line of modern furniture that risom would design and knoll would sell. a year later when the hans knoll furniture company was launched, 15 of the first 20 pieces – the “600” line – were pure risom in design and construction. these were the first and last pieces risom would design for knoll. after serving in the army during the war, jens returned to new york, and soon decided that it was time to form his own concern, jens risom design, inc. (jrd), which launched on may 1st, 1946. at that time, there were very few companies in the states that specialized in good quality modern furniture. and while knoll would continue to rely on a wide variety of designers, jrd always had just jens. although knoll continued to produce risom-designed furniture, they agreed to remove his name from their products in 1952 so that jens would not be competing against himself with his new company’s designs. according to risom, “in order for us or for anybody to establish a reputation for high quality, you have to fully control the entire process.” in the early 1950's, risom created a series of bold new advertisements with the tagline: the answer is risom. featuring uncompromisingly direct photographs by richard avedon, risom’s subtle new designs were shown in use against a white seamless background with no extraneous details. the response to risom’s new furniture was tremendous, forcing jrd in 1954 to expand its manufacturing facilities to a large new site in connecticut. late in the 1950's, jrd began to shift away from residential furniture to designing and producing non-residential furniture, focusing primarily on office management furniture but also producing hospital, and library furniture. by the 1960's, jrd had showrooms in all the major u.s. markets as well as overseas where the company had licensed their designs. by 1970, after nearly 25 steadfast years, risom sold the company to the dictaphone corporation, an office machines company, seeking to add upscale executive office furniture to their office product line. by 1973, jens was once again pursuing several new interests through his free-lance design service, ‘design control’, located in new canaan, connecticut, where he currently resides with his wife, henny.