Hans Wegner Sawbuck Chair
About the Item
- Creator:Hans J. Wegner (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 30.5 in (77.47 cm)Width: 29 in (73.66 cm)Depth: 24 in (60.96 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. In excellent vintage condition.
- Seller Location:Sylacauga, AL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2159319976592
Hans J. Wegner
Best known for his chairs and other 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 Hans Wegner’s best chair designs 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.
Find vintage Hans Wegner lounge chairs, armchairs, daybeds and other furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
You May Also Like
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
Oak
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
Oak, Leather
Vintage 1960s Danish Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Papercord, Ash, Teak
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Papercord, Ash, Teak
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Oak
Vintage 1960s Danish Chairs
Ash
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
Oak
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Oak
Vintage 1970s Danish Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Beech
Still Thinking About These?
All Recently ViewedRead 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.