Danish furniture designer Hans J. Wegner was born in Tønder in 1914, the son of a cobbler. He trained as a cabinetmaker as a teenager before studying at the School of Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen, and worked with Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller on Aarhus City Hall in the early 1940s.
Wegner is renowned as the master of the modern chair. Over his career he designed more than 500, many of them still in production. The CH24 Wishbone chair of 1949, made by Carl Hansen & Søn, with its Y-shaped back and woven paper-cord seat, is one of the most recognised chairs in the world. The Round Chair of the same year, made by PP Møbler, became known simply as The Chair after John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon sat in it for their televised 1960 debate. The Shell chair, Flag Halyard chair and Peter’s Chair show his range.
Wegner died in 2007. His fusion of craft and modern form helped make Danish design an international byword for quality.
Hans J. Wegner (1914–2007) was a Danish furniture designer and trained cabinetmaker, regarded as one of the great figures of Danish Modern design.
Hans J. Wegner is known for more than 500 chairs, including the CH24 Wishbone chair for Carl Hansen & Søn, the Round Chair or The Chair for PP Møbler, the Shell chair and the Flag Halyard chair.
Hans J. Wegner helped make Danish design internationally synonymous with quality and craft. Many of his chairs remain in production more than 70 years after they were designed.
est living features 17 designs by Hans J. Wegner, from Carl Hansen & Søn, PP Møbler, Pandul and Getama. Browse them on this page, where each product links to where you can buy it or enquire.
