Pair of Hans J. Wegner China Chairs in Walnut, 1972
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Pair of Hans J. Wegner China Chairs in Walnut, 1972
About the Item
- Creator:Hans J. Wegner (Designer),Fritz Hansen (Cabinetmaker)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 32.09 in (81.5 cm)Width: 21.86 in (55.5 cm)Depth: 21.26 in (54 cm)Seat Height: 18.31 in (46.5 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Scandinavian Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1972
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Copenhagen, DK
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1008219350121
Chinese Chair
When he designed the first edition of his modest Chinese chair — or China chair — Denmark native Hans Wegner (1914–2007) had been reportedly moved by portraits he’d seen of Danish businessmen relaxing in traditional round-backed Ming dynasty–era chairs. While the legendary furniture maker’s tribute to East Asian seating — a minimal cherrywood chair with a curved bentwood back support and removable leather seat cushion — called on Oriental forms that preceded him by hundreds of years, it merged the old with the new and was uniquely of its time.
In blending East Asian aesthetics and Scandinavian modernism, Wegner defined an approach that would underscore the sculptural and functional chairs he created in the years that followed. A dedication to craftsmanship, respect for natural materials and fussiness for details owe to his apprenticeship with master cabinetmaker H.F. Stahlberg. After his apprenticeship, Wegner studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and collaborated with designers Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller on furniture for Aarhus City Hall in 1938. Wegner established his own drafting studio in 1943 and designed the Chinese chair in 1944.
In its pared-down simplicity and reliance on soft organic shapes, the Chinese chair design yielded multiple prototypes, and so a collection of chairs inspired by Oriental craftsmanship followed — a line that includes Wegner’s celebrated Round chair as well as the Wishbone. It is currently produced by both Fritz Hansen and PP Møbler. Although Wegner designed nearly 500 chairs during his career, the Chinese chair is a cornerstone of his legacy — a legacy that continues to influence countless furniture makers today.
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.
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- Hans J. Wegner Papa Bear Chair, A. P. Stolen 1951By Hans J. Wegner, Anker PedersenLocated in Copenhagen, DKHans J. Wegner 'Papa Bear' chair with arms of teak and legs of oak, upholstered with light soft fabric. Designed 1951 and manufactured by A.P. Stolen, Denmark, model AP19. Very f...Category
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- Hans J. Wegner Chinese Chair of Walnut for Fritz HansenBy Hans J. Wegner, Fritz HansenLocated in Copenhagen, DKHans J. Wegner Chinese chair of walnut. Loose seat cushion upholstered with black leather, fitted with buttons. Executed by Fritz Hansen. Reverse with paper label FRITZ HANSEN, DE...Category
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- Hans J. Wegner Pair of Chinese Chairs in Mahogany for Fritz HansenBy Hans J. Wegner, Fritz HansenLocated in Copenhagen, DKHans J. Wegner Chinese chairs in mahogany. Loose seat cushions upholstered with leather, fitted with buttons. Executed by Fritz Hansen.Category
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- Pair of Hans J. Wegner Chinese Chairs of Cherrywood for Fritz HansenBy Hans J. Wegner, Fritz HansenLocated in Copenhagen, DKHans J. Wegner Chinese chairs of cherrywood. Loose seat cushion upholstered with red leather, fitted with buttons. Executed by Fritz Hansen, 1969. Reverse with paper label Fritz H...Category
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- Pair of Hans J. Wegner Chinese Chairs of Cherrywood for Fritz HansenBy Hans J. Wegner, Fritz HansenLocated in Copenhagen, DKHans J. Wegner Chinese chairs of cherrywood. Loose seat cushions upholstered with leather, fitted with buttons. Executed by Fritz Hansen.Category
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- Pair of Hans Wegner Walnut China ChairsBy Hans J. Wegner, Fritz HansenLocated in London, GBHans J. Wegner FH 4283 China chair, 1944 This incredibly rare version of Wegner's iconic design was produced by Fritz Hansen in Denmark in 1977 in exquisite European walnut in ...Category
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$19,069 / set - Midcentury "China" Chair in Mahogany by Hans J. Wegner, 1960sBy Hans J. Wegner, Fritz HansenLocated in Lejre, DKArmchair in solid mahogany and leather, designed by Hans J. Wegner for Fritz Hansen A/S. Made in Denmark.Category
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