Danish Mid Century Low Brutalist Sideboard in Oak, Henning Kjærnulf, 1960s

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.

Kurt Ejvind Østervig was born in 1912 in Odense, Denmark. He was originally trained and worked as a shipbuilding engineer. However, by the 1930s Østervig shifted to furniture design because of his passion for woodworking.

Østervig's career as a furniture designer began at E. Knudsen’s architectural design studio in Odense. In 1947, Østervig opened his first own studio as a freelance furniture designer, with a focus on modern design. In the following decades, he worked with many of the leading Scandinavian furniture producers of the period.

Østervig was exceptionally versatile, designing furniture for hotels, cinemas, and won numerous design competitions during his career. He won awards at the Milan Triennale in 1953 and 1960. In the 1960s, one of Østervig’s designs was selected for an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Østervig had a flair for the dramatic, infusing his furnishings with unique elements that stood out. From elegant, organic to coarse and purely functional furniture, his versatility earned him recognition.

Find vintage Kurt Østervig seating, tables, storage cabinets and other furniture on 1stDibs.

(Biography provided by H. Gallery)