Povl Kjer
Story

„Oh, a man at a workshop, covered in dust? Well, that’s probably me.”

If you think about design classics, names like Arne Jacobsen, Verner Panton or Charles Eames quickly come to mind. But Povl Kjer? And his rocking sheep? No? Well, then it’s time to continue reading.
Povl Kjer isn’t an architect, he isn’t someone who indulges himself in arrangement, he’s not even a designer – he is a woodcarver. Kjer and his wife live in a former grocery store somewhere in a small Danish village near the sea. Dolls are his profession: he carves wooden sculptures, as tall as a man, for show cases and museums. His work is inspired by the sharp-edged visual appearance of the Danish iron era. A cragged kind of art with a historical origin.
So, please don’t get frightened if you encounter tall Vikings with true-to-life faces or other notched figures at Kjer’s workshop. They all appear in a loveable way, we promise.
Apart from that, the workshop is crowded with different materials, ethnic machines, traditional tools and a dusty man who – you might have guessed it already – is Povl Kjer.

“A sheep is a light animal with thin legs. My design expresses this light weight as well; still, it is made for many generations. It is meant to be used boisterously by children.

Kjer made his first rocking sheep more than three decades ago for his niece Julie. When they were younger, the two of them spent a lot of time at the small farm Kjer’s parents had – and with his present, he wanted to remind Julie of that time. Since throwing things away is really unusual in rural regions of Denmark, Kjer used old wood and a sheepskin rug his grandparents gave him to carve the mother of rocking sheep. To create her feet, he recycled an old billboard Coca Cola once made.
But since Julie had many friends, Kjer designed the prototype of the rocking sheep we now know just one year later. Made of solid wood and velvety lambskin, he persistently crafts each and every rocking sheep.

“The hardest part is upholstering the wood with the fur. You need to be really careful with your fingers as well as with the choice of fur.”

These days, the rocking sheep is a really coveted design classic. But where is the factory? Well, Povl Kjer wouldn’t be Povl Kjer if he had built one. He prefers working with local woodcarvers, carpenters and turners.
To this day, he himself has been his only employee. He doesn’t need an executive’s office when he is free to do what he loves – in the way he likes. In a world where machines are gratuitous since we all have hands.
Povl Kjer fondly builds each and every sheep with his own hands – this way he creates a toy that everyone wants to adopt immediately, no matter if they are still a child or just want to go back in time for a while.
Povl Kjer’s rocking sheep: an emotional children’s toy, a charming piece of furniture or an eccentric stool? Feel free to decide.