Early Original JH 501 Chair by Hans J Wegner for Johannes Hansen in Teak, 1950
View Similar Items
Early Original JH 501 Chair by Hans J Wegner for Johannes Hansen in Teak, 1950
About the Item
- Creator:Hans J. Wegner (Designer),Johannes Hansen (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 29.93 in (76 cm)Width: 24.81 in (63 cm)Depth: 19.69 in (50 cm)Seat Height: 16.93 in (43 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. In good over all condition. The seat has been re-caned as would be expected for a chair of this age, however this was done some time ago. The back rail retains the original cane. Some signs of wear to the chair in general.
- Seller Location:Stow on the Wold, GB
- Reference Number:Seller: st8191stDibs: LU3784114669322
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.
- 1950s Black and Walnut Dining Chair in the Style of Imari TapiovaaraBy Tapio WirkkalaLocated in Stow on the Wold, GBVery good quality dining chair in the style of Imari Tapiovaara. Designed in the 1950s. Ebonized beech legs and back spindles and walnut veneered seats. In good vintage condition,...Category
Mid-20th Century English Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsWalnut, Plywood
- 1950s Black and Walnut Dining Chair in the Style of Imari TapiovaaraBy Tapio WirkkalaLocated in Stow on the Wold, GBVery good quality dining chair in the style of Imari Tapiovaara. Designed in the 1950s. Ebonized beech legs and back spindles and walnut veneered seats. In good vintage condition, v...Category
Mid-20th Century English Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsWalnut, Plywood
- Bentwood Office Chair Model Number 704 J J Kohn For Thonet 1900s Jacob JosephBy Jacob & Josef Kohn, ThonetLocated in Stow on the Wold, GBWonderful bentwood chair, designed by Jacob and Joseph Kohn, Austria and produced by Thonet, dates from the early 1900s. Model Number 704 Retains the original embossed seat with won...Category
Antique Early 1900s Austrian Aesthetic Movement Side Chairs
MaterialsBentwood
- 1950s Rattan Cane and Metal Chair Franco Albini 2 available BBy Janine Abraham / Dirk Jan RolLocated in Stow on the Wold, GBWonderfully stylish good quality mid century chair, Franco Albini Style steel rod frame with rattan tub seat. Dates from the 1950s. 2 Available, priced individually. In good vintag...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Bentwood Chair with arms Model No 14 Art Nouveau Chair Thonet Austria 1890By ThonetLocated in Stow on the Wold, GBWonderful bentwood chair, produced by Thonet, this design originally dates from 1859. Made from bent solid and laminated Beech construction with moulded plywood seat. This chair date...Category
Antique 1890s Austrian Aesthetic Movement Side Chairs
MaterialsBeech, Bentwood
- Pair of Body Chairs by Jim Warren Pearl Dot 1979 Yoga Chair Slatted Ash ChairLocated in Stow on the Wold, GBAn important and rare pair of chairs designed by Jim Warren and produced by Pearl Dot, England, they date from 1979. Very cleverly designed to reflect the whole human body, in its fu...Category
Mid-20th Century English Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsAsh
- 4 Early Hans Wegner for Johannes Hansen JH-503 Chairs in TeakBy Hans J. Wegner, Johannes HansenLocated in Los Angeles, CAWe are excited to offer 4 early Hans Wegner JH-503 chairs designed in 1949 and Produced by Johannes Hansen. Fully restored solid old growth teak construction. Stamped with the maker'...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Teak
- Pair Hans J. Wegner 'the Chair' JH503 for Johannes HansenBy Hans J. Wegner, Johannes HansenLocated in Brooklyn, NYStunning rare pair of Danish modern Teak chairs designed by Hans J. Wegner for Johannes Hansen circa 1954. The chairs are upholstered with ori...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Teak
- Hans Wegner, Round Chair JH501, oak and cane, made by Johannes HansenBy Hans J. Wegner, Johannes HansenLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireKnown as The Round Chair, or simply The Chair, Hans J Wegner created the design for Johannes Hansen to display at the annual exhibition of the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers' Guild in 1949...Category
Vintage 1940s Danish Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsCane, Oak
- 5 Hans Wegner for Johannes Hansen JH-503 Chairs in Teak and LeatherBy Johannes Hansen, Hans J. WegnerLocated in Los Angeles, CAWe are excited to offer 11 early Hans Wegner JH-503 chairs designed in 1949 and Produced by Johannes Hansen. Fully restored solid old growth teak construction. Stamped with the maker...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Teak
- Hans Wegner "the Chair" Early Version Teak and Cane Jh-501 Chair Johannes HansenBy Hans J. WegnerLocated in Studio City, CAIconic in design and aesthetic. Designed in 1949 by famed Danish designer Hans Wegner and known universally as "The Chair", the JH501 chair is perhaps the mo...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsCane, Teak
- Hans Wegner JH-515 Armchair for Johannes HansenBy Johannes Hansen, Hans J. WegnerLocated in Los Angeles, CAHans J. Wegner teak armchair c.1950s, Denmark, for Johannes Hansen. The rare model JH-515 features a black leather backrest and seat. Stamped Johannes Hansen, COPENHAGEN, DENMARK....Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Abalone, Teak
$5,000 / item
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
The 21 Most Popular Mid-Century Modern Chairs
You know the designs, now get the stories about how they came to be.
Design Icon Ilse Crawford on Her Colorful New Hans Wegner Chairs
If anyone is brave, humble and adept enough to recolor these mid-century masterpieces, it’s Ilse Crawford. Here, she gives us the details on her five earthy paint choices and tells us how she feels about design collaborations.