Pair of Hans J. Wegner Chinese Chairs
View Similar Items
Pair of Hans J. Wegner Chinese Chairs
About the Item
- Creator:Hans J. Wegner (Designer),Fritz Hansen (Cabinetmaker)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 31.89 in (81 cm)Width: 20.48 in (52 cm)Depth: 16.54 in (42 cm)Seat Height: 17.33 in (44 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: LU203235746643
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.
- Hans J. Wegner Chinese Chair for Fritz HansenBy Hans J. Wegner, Fritz HansenLocated in Copenhagen, DKChina chair by Hans J. Wegner, 1944. Executed by Fritz Hansen, 1970. Cherry wood and natural tanned leather cushion.Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Cherry
- Hans J. Wegner Chinese Chair for Fritz HansenBy Hans J. Wegner, Fritz HansenLocated in Copenhagen, DKChinese chair by Hans J. Wegner, 1944. Executed by Fritz Hansen, 1980. Cherrywood and leather cushion.Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Cherry
- 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
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Cherry
- 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
Vintage 1970s Danish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Cherry
- 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
1990s Danish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Mahogany
- 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
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Walnut
- Pair of Hans Wegner Walnut China ChairsBy Fritz Hansen, Hans J. WegnerLocated 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
Vintage 1970s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsWalnut, Leather
$19,198 / set - Hans Wegner Sawbuck ChairBy Hans J. WegnerLocated in New York, NYA Danish oak and leather armchair. Designed by Hans Wegner Name - Sawbuck chair Model Number - CH-28 armchair was designed by Hans Wegner in 195...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsOak, Leather
- Hans Wegner White Round ChairsBy Hans J. Wegner, PP MøblerLocated in Epperstone, NottinghamshireAmazing pair of Hans Wegner Round Chairs PP 501 in ‘Special Request’ white pigment lacquer finish. These chairs were ordered from PP Mobler in 2015 with ...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Chairs
MaterialsCane
$12,798 / set - Hans Wegner Pair of Armchairs, Model PP-201By Hans J. WegnerLocated in San Francisco, CAHans J. Wegner pair of oak armchairs, model PP-201. Oak with papercord seats, top rails with wengé inlays. Designed in 1969. Produced by PP Møbler, model PP 201. Literature: 'Wegner's 100 chairs...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsPapercord, Oak
$7,500 / set - Hans Wegner Peacock Chair, C1960sBy Hans J. Wegner, Johannes HansenLocated in London, GB“Peacock Chair”. Easy chair with ash frame and teak armrests. Seat with woven paper cord. Model JH 550. Designed 1947. This example made approx. 1960s by cabinetmaker Johannes Hansen...Category
Vintage 1960s European Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsAsh
$5,119 Sale Price20% Off - 16 Hans Wegner Style Teak ChairsBy Johannes Hansen, Hans J. WegnerLocated 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
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.