CH24 Soft Wishbone Chair
With
a form that is uniquely its own, the iconic CH24 Wishbone Chair by Hans J.
Wegner holds a special place in the world of modern design. When designing the
CH24, Wegner chose to combine the back- and armrest into a single piece. To
give stability to the steam-bent top and ensure comfortable support, Wegner
developed the characteristic Y-shaped back that the Wishbone Chair is named
after. More than 100 steps are required to manufacture each Wishbone Chair,
most of which are carried out by hand. The hand-woven seat alone takes a
skilled craftsman about an hour to create, using approximately 120 meters of
paper cord, the impressive durability and stability of which makes the chair
both strong and long-lasting. The Wishbone Chair offers comfort and stability as
well as satisfying aesthetic desires for distinctive, elegant form. Over time,
the Wishbone Chair has gained recognition as the ideal chair, capturing the
essence of modern Danish design.
About Designer | |
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Hans J. Wegner |
As
a driving force behind 'Danish Modern', Hans J. Wegner helped change the
general public's view of furniture in the 1950s and 1960s. His passion for
designing chairs, more than 500 of them, is recognized worldwide and reflected
in his title 'the Master of the Chair'. He is famous for integrating perfectly
executed joints with exquisite shapes and combining them with a constant
curiosity for materials and deep respect for wood and its natural
characteristics. His designs furnish minimalism with organic and natural
softness. Hans
J. Wegner was born in 1914 in Tønder in Southern Denmark, the son of a
shoemaker. At the age of 17, he completed his apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker
in the workshop of H. F. Stahlberg where his first designs saw the light of
day. At the age of twenty he moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, to attend the School
of Arts and Crafts, where he studied from 1936-1938 before embarking on a
career as an architect. In
1940, Wegner joined Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller and began designing furniture
for the new City Hall in Aarhus, Denmark's second-largest city. This was also
the year when Wegner began working with master cabinetmaker Johannes Hansen,
who played a major role in introducing modern design to the Danish public. Hans
J. Wegner opened his own drawing office in 1943. In 1944, he designed the first
China Chair in a series inspired by Chinese chairs from the Ming dynasty. One
of these chairs, the Wishbone Chair, designed in 1949 and produced by Carl
Hansen & Søn since 1950, went on to become Wegner's most successful design
of all time. Hans
J. Wegner is considered one of the most creative and productive Danish
furniture designers of all time. He has received several accolades given to
designers, including the Lunning Prize in 1951 and The 8th International Design
Award in 1997. He
became an honorary member of the Royal Danish Academy for the Fine Arts in
1995, and an honorary doctor of the Royal College of Art in 1997. Almost all of
the world's major design museums, from The Museum of Modern Art in New York to
Die Neue Sammlung in Munich, feature his furniture in their collections. Hans
J. Wegner died in Denmark in January 2007 - at the age of 92.
Carl
Hansen & Søn's alliance with Hans J. Wegner began in 1949 and resulted in
the production of a wide range of Wegner designs spanning dining chairs, easy
chairs, footrests, sofas and coffee tables, dining tables as well as high-end
office furniture and children's furniture. Wegner's iconic designs from Carl
Hansen & Son include the Shell Chair, Wing Chair and Wishbone Chair. |