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Johannes Hansen

Danish master cabinetmaker Johannes Hansen is best known for a celebrated partnership with legendary Scandinavian modernist designer Hans Wegner that lasted half a century. The sophisticated and sculptural chairs, tables and cabinets that Wegner designed and Hansen built earned Wegner worldwide acclaim, and brought meaningful business opportunities to Hansen and his modest workshop.

Hansen was born in 1886 and apprenticed as a cabinetmaker in his early years, opening a workshop and showroom in Copenhagen. In 1927, he helped establish the annual Copenhagen Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibition. Later, at the age of 55, Hansen began working with Danish furniture designer Hans J. Wegner, then only 26. With Wegner creating and Hansen executing on his partner’s complex designs, they developed furniture to sell in Hansen's showroom. A business relationship of this type was common in 20th-century Danish furniture making, and Hansen and Wegner enjoyed a prolific and renowned collaboration.

Wegner’s career began in cabinetry before he transitioned to furniture design in the 1940s. He is among the most celebrated figures for collectors of mid-century modern and Scandinavian works of the era. One of the first well-known entries for the Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibitions authored by Wegner and built by Hansen was the 1942 Lattice chair, a red Cuban mahogany dining room chair with an upholstered leather seat. The Peacock chair, an iconic design that followed in 1947, was the pair's take on a traditional English Windsor chair. It featured flattened spindles along the back resembling the feathers of a peacock tail — it wasn’t exactly an emblem of the pared-back functionality prioritized by Kaare Klint, Wegner’s former instructor at Copenhagen’s Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.

Wegner would go on to design nearly 500 chairs over the course of his life — among them are the Wishbone chair, the Papa Bear chair and the Round chair. The latter, which is often simply called “The Chair,” was manufactured by Hansen and made its debut at the Guild Exhibition in 1949. It was declared “the most beautiful chair in the world” by Interiors magazine a year later, and a pair of the iconic seats appeared on the first nationally televised presidential debate in the United States in 1960.

After Hansen died in 1961, his son, Poul Hansen, took over the business and continued working with Wegner. The company closed in the 1990s, but today, Hansen and Wegner's collaborative legacy endures in collections around the world.

Find vintage Johannes Hansen furniture on 1stDibs.

Set of Eight Hans Wagner "Round" Dining Chairs in Teakwood
By Hans J. Wegner, Johannes Hansen
Located in Chicago, IL
Set of Eight Hans Wagner "Round" Dining Chairs in Teakwood, by Johannes Hansen Denmark, 1950 Featuring a timeless and elegant combination of oiled teakwood and cain, the chair showca...
Category

1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Johannes Hansen

Materials

Cane, Teak

Folding chair model JH 512 designed by Hans J. Wegner for Johannes Hansen, 1949
By Johannes Hansen, Hans J. Wegner
Located in Stockholm, SE
Hans J. Wegner is the father of Danish design and is well known for creating some of the most iconic chairs of the past 100 years. The son of a cobbler, Wegner brought Danish design to the international stage through his deep understanding and enjoyment of wood as well as an eye for beautiful and ergonomic design that had hitherto existed. Wegner is seen as the most influential designer within the Danish movement and his early innate ability with wood matured into the gift of an unprecedented amount of over 500 beautiful and functional gifts to the pantheon of design. Hans J Wegner brought Danish furniture to a world stage through his simple, elegant and ergonomic chairs. His CH24 models still litter the offices of design and architectural practices globally and his earliest pieces have become rare design milestones in museums and galleries. Hans J Wegner is certainly one of the most important designers of the 20th Century. Wegner’s first renowned chair came though his work with the Chairmen of the Danish Cabinetmaker’s Guild; Johannes Hansen. Through their intellectual relationship Wegner was able to design a chair he christened “the round one” in 1949 and would go on to be called the defining name; “the chair”. This elegant, restrained, yet organic chair was a pivotal design for Wegner and signalled the beginning of his own unique reign over seat furniture worldwide. This chair also illustrated the point at which the wider world took proper notice of Scandinavian design with it triggering the first American editorial spotlight on Danish Design. The influence and fame of this design can again be recognised in the fact that it was chosen as the seating for the 1960 American Presidential Election debates and shipped from Denmark especially for the occasion. Thus giving the “no.501” its occasional name: “the Kennedy...
Category

1940s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Johannes Hansen

Materials

Cane, Oak

Pair of armchairs ‘The Chair’ model JH 501 designed by Hans J. Wegner 1949
By Hans J. Wegner, Johannes Hansen
Located in Stockholm, SE
Pair of armchairs ‘The Chair’ model JH 501 designed by Hans J. Wegner for Johannes Hansen, Denmark, 1949. Teak and cane. Early model with the caned backrest. Stamped. H: 76 cm W: 63 cm D: 50 cm Arm height: 68.5 cm Seat height: 44 cm Hans J. Wegner is the father of Danish design and is well known for creating some of the most iconic chairs of the past 100 years. The son of a cobbler, Wegner brought Danish design to the international stage through his deep understanding and enjoyment of wood as well as an eye for beautiful and ergonomic design that had hitherto existed. Wegner is seen as the most influential designer within the Danish movement and his early innate ability with wood matured into the gift of an unprecedented amount of over 500 beautiful and functional gifts to the pantheon of design. Hans J Wegner brought Danish furniture to a world stage through his simple, elegant and ergonomic chairs. His CH24 models still litter the offices of design and architectural practices globally and his earliest pieces have become rare design milestones in museums and galleries. Hans J Wegner is certainly one of the most important designers of the 20th Century. Wegner’s first renowned chair came though his work with the Chairmen of the Danish Cabinetmaker’s Guild; Johannes Hansen. Through their intellectual relationship Wegner was able to design a chair he christened “the round one” in 1949 and would go on to be called the defining name; “the chair”. This elegant, restrained, yet organic chair was a pivotal design for Wegner and signalled the beginning of his own unique reign over seat furniture worldwide. This chair also illustrated the point at which the wider world took proper notice of Scandinavian design with it triggering the first American editorial spotlight on Danish Design. The influence and fame of this design can again be recognised in the fact that it was chosen as the seating for the 1960 American Presidential Election debates and shipped from Denmark especially for the occasion. Thus giving the “no.501” its occasional name: “the Kennedy...
Category

1940s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Johannes Hansen

Materials

Cane, Teak

Set of Four Armchairs by Hans J. Wegner
By Johannes Hansen
Located in Copenhagen, DK
Model JH 513 - Set of four armchairs in solid teak with new textile from Hermés Paris (Ophlaine Carchemire Orage). Cabinetmaker Johannes Hansen.
Category

Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Johannes Hansen

Materials

Teak

Set of Four Armchairs by Hans J. Wegner
Set of Four Armchairs by Hans J. Wegner
H 35.44 in W 25.99 in D 22.84 in
1960s Wegner Armchair in Patinated Oak and Leather by Johannes Hansen
By Hans J. Wegner, Johannes Hansen
Located in Knebel, DK
1960s Hans J. Wegner armchair model 713 in tanned patinated oak and leather made by Johannes Hansen. The chair is evidence of suprime design...
Category

1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Johannes Hansen

Materials

Oak

Johannes Hansen Hans Wegner Danish Modern Teak Tables with Trays
By Johannes Hansen, Hans J. Wegner
Located in Milford, NH
A fine pair of Mid Century modern rectangular teak tables with hidden slide-out trays designed by Hans Wegner and produced by Johannes Hansen, Copenhagen, Denmark, circa 1960. Each t...
Category

1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Johannes Hansen

Materials

Metal

Pair of Chrome & Leather "Airport" Visitor Chairs by Wegner, Denmark, 1960's
By Johannes Hansen, Hans J. Wegner
Located in New York, NY
A pair of original black leather and chromed steel. "Airport" chairs. Designed By Hans J. Wegner Manufactured By A.P, Stolen Denmark, 1960s.
Category

Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Johannes Hansen

Materials

Leather

Hans Wegner, Folding Lounge Chair model JH-512, circa 1960, by Johannes Hansen
By Hans J. Wegner, Johannes Hansen
Located in Wargrave, Berkshire
Hans J Wegner (1914-2007), Folding Lounge Chair, model JH-512, original design 1949, this example possibly produced circa 1960. Produced by Johannes Hansen, Copenhagen Denmark, an...
Category

1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Johannes Hansen

Materials

Brass

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Johannes Hansen furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

Johannes Hansen furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of wood and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Johannes Hansen furniture, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original furniture by Johannes Hansen were created in the Scandinavian Modern style in europe during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider furniture by Nanna Ditzel, Jørgen Kastholm & Preben Fabricius, and Sibast. Prices for Johannes Hansen furniture can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $532 and can go as high as $110,000, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $8,549.

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