Hans Wegner Furniture

Born in 1914, Hans Wegner is perhaps Denmark’s best-known furniture designer. Wegner began his long career at age 14, as a craftsman, namely as an apprentice to a local cabinet-maker. Within four years he had become a journeyman joiner, and in another four -- evidently not entirely happy making things to the designs of others -- he enrolled at the Institute of Technology in Copenhagen. Wegner's education continued at the prestigious School of Arts and Crafts, where he studied under Molgaard Nielsen. After graduating, Wegner served a brief stint at the design office of Arne Jacobsen. Finally, in 1943, he opened his own design office

Though Wegner designed for series production, all of his work bears the unmistakable stamp of the traditionally-trained craftsman. It is, in fact, the reconciliation of craftsmanship with industry, and thus, necessarily, of tradition with modernity, which informs so many of the recurrent themes of Wegner’s work.
One such is that of the Windsor chair. This largely 18th century Anglo-American form, re-worked for 20th century taste as well as Danish mass-production, is the basis of Wegner’s famous “Peacock” chair of 1947, as well as (in much-modified form) his “Hoop” chair of 1965. Each of these designs perfectly transposes the “Windsor-ness” of its historical precedents into something wholly contemporary, as well as being suited for factory production.

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