Hans Wegner "The Chair" in Teak
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Hans Wegner "The Chair" in Teak
About the Item
- Creator:Hans J. Wegner (Designer),Johannes Hansen (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 29.5 in (74.93 cm)Width: 25 in (63.5 cm)Depth: 21 in (53.34 cm)Seat Height: 15.5 in (39.37 cm)
- Style:Scandinavian Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1961
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Debated whether to refinish, as it has great patina to the teak frame, with random scrapes and dings after 50+ years of use. It presents well and is still as solid as the day it was made.
- Seller Location:New London, CT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU126926241333
Hans J. Wegner
Best known for his chairs and seating pieces — though a master of many furniture types like sofas and tables — Hans Wegner was a prolific designer whose elegant, often ebullient, forms and devotion to the finest methods in joinery made "Danish Modern" a popular byword for stylish, well-made furniture in the mid-20th century.
Wegner considered himself a carpenter first and a furniture designer second. Like his peers Arne Jacobsen and Finn Juhl, Wegner believed that striking aesthetics in furniture were based on a foundation of practicality: a chair must be comfortable and sturdy before it is chic.
In keeping with that tenet, several of Wegner’s best chair designs, seen in dealer listings below, have their roots in traditional seating forms. The Peacock chair (designed in 1947) is a throne-like adaptation of the Windsor chair; pieces from the China chair series (begun in 1944) as well as the 1949 Wishbone chair, with its distinctive Y-shaped back splat, are derived from 17th-century Ming seating pieces, as is the upholstered Ox chair (1960). Wegner’s comfy Papa Bear chair (1951) is an almost surreally re-scaled English wingback chair.
Wegner’s most representative piece, the Round chair (1949), gained a footnote in political history when it was used on the TV stage of the first Kennedy-Nixon debate of 1960. That chair, along with Wegner’s more bravura designs, for example the 1963 Shell chair, with its curved surfboard-shaped seat, bring a quietly sculptural presence to a room. Wegner was a designer who revered his primary material — wood — and it shows. His wood gathers patina and character with age; every Hans Wegner piece testifies to the life it has led.
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.
- Hans J. Wegner 'The Chair' in Teak for Johannes HansenBy Johannes Hansen, Hans J. WegnerLocated in Copenhagen, DKHans J. Wegner model JH503 in teak. Seat upholstered with black leather. Executed by Johannes Hansen, Copenhagen, Denmark.Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Teak
- Teak Conference Chair by Hans J. WegnerBy Johannes Hansen, Hans J. WegnerLocated in Sagaponack, NYA handcrafted and elegant armchair devoid of extraneous detailing, having an exposed solid teak frame and a gently curved seat and back in leather upholstery.Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
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- Hans Wegner JH-501 Chair, TeakBy Johannes Hansen, Hans J. WegnerLocated in London, GBHans J. Wegner JH-501 "The Chair", 1949. Wegner's most iconic design. This example with teak frame and original woven rattan seat. Minor breaks in cane which do not affect use....Category
Vintage 1940s Danish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
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- 16 Hans Wegner Style Teak ChairsBy Hans J. Wegner, Johannes HansenLocated in Los Angeles, CAThese are great solid teak chairs in the style of Hans Wegner. Made in the USA.Category
1990s Danish Scandinavian Modern Chairs
MaterialsTeak, Faux Leather
$720 Sale Price / item40% Off - 'The Chair' a Teak Round Chair with a Caned Seat by Hans J. WegnerBy Johannes Hansen, Hans J. WegnerLocated in Sagaponack, NYA teak 'Round' chair with masterfully sculpted backrest and arms floating atop tapered dowel legs having a caned seat. This sublime chair became known a...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsTeak, Cane
- Oxhide Teak Lounge Chair by Hans J. WegnerBy Johannes Hansen, Hans J. WegnerLocated in Sagaponack, NYA very rare teak armchair / lounge chair retaining the original oxhide black leather seat and back upholstery. Designed by Hans J. Wegner and crafted by Johannes Hansen circa 1950s i...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Teak
$16,000 / item
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