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.
Mid-century Glostrup Mobelfabrik Solid Teak Dining Table
By Glostrup Møbelfabrik
Located in Oakland, CA
Beautiful mid-century Danish Glostrup Mobelfabrik dining table, handcrafted from planks of solid teak wood. The teak wood features ribbon effects and a bullnosed edge, fully restored...
Teak
c. 1955 Peter Hvidt for France & Daverkosen Solid Teak Round Coffee Table
By Hvidt & Mølgaard
Located in Oakland, CA
Solid teak coffee table designed by Peter Hvidt & Orla Molgaard Nielsen for France & Daverkosen, 1955, Denmark. Handcrafted of solid old-growth teak on a sculptural sleigh base. Prof...
Teak
Danish Edmund Jorgensen Walnut Kidney Shape Side Table
By Edmund Jorgensen
Located in Oakland, CA
Danish mid-century side table designed by Edmund Jorgensen for Gorm Moblefabrik, circa 1950, Denmark. This side table features an organic, kidney-shaped tabletop crafted from walnut....
Walnut
Early Bodil Kjær Executive Desk, Model 901 — E. Pedersen & Søn, Denmark, 1959
By E. Pedersen & Søn, Bodil Kjaer
Located in Oakland, CA
Iconic freestanding executive desk designed by architect and professor Bodil Kjær. Model 901, manufactured by E. Pedersen & Søn in Denmark in 1959. Constructed of Brazilian rosewood,...
Rosewood
1940's Danish Ottoman or Bench
By Frits Henningsen
Located in Oakland, CA
1940s Scandinavian ottoman raised on elegant mahogany legs in the manner of Frits Henningsen. The ottoman is upholstered in the original blue wool fabric and can be used in its curre...
Wool
Mid-century Torbjorn Afdal Danish Rosewood Secretary Desk
By Nesjestranda Møbelfabrik, Torbjørn Afdal
Located in Oakland, CA
Danish secretary desk designed by Torbjørn Afdal for Nesjestranda Møbelfabrik, Norway, 1965. Crafted from Brazilian rosewood, the secretary desk ...
Rosewood
Rare Side or Sewing Table, Model AT-33 by Hans Wegner, 1950s
By Hans J. Wegner
Located in Limhamn, Skåne län
This rare side or sewing table, model AT-33, was designed by Hans Wegner and produced by Andreas Tuck in Denmark during the 1950s. The table is crafted from teak and oak, with a warm...
Rattan, Oak
Hans Wegner Teak Drop Leaf Sewing Table with Woven Basket Storage
By Andreas Tuck
Located in Queens, NY
American mid-century teak wood sewing table with two drop leaves on either side, a single drawer with two wooden knob drawer pulls, and a sliding compartment containing a removable woven wicker basket over a smaller stretcher shelf connecting four...
Wood, Teak
AT 33 - Sewing table in teak by Hans J. Wegner
By Andreas Tuck, Hans J. Wegner
Located in Copenhagen, DK
AT 33 - Sewing table in solid oak and top in light teak. Two flaps and side with drawer divided into small compartments, including basket in patinated cane. Stamped by cabinetmaker A...
Oak, Teak
Mid-Century Modern Scandinavian Teak Sewing Basket End Table - Johannes Andersen
By Johannes Andersen
Located in Linkebeek, BE
Mid-Century Modern Scandinavian Teak Sewing Basket End Table - Johannes Andersen Scandinavian - Decoration - Vintage modern Measures : 72cmx44.5cm H:69.5cm Material : Wood - Wicker ...
Wicker, Wood
Hans Wegner for Andreas Tuck Mid-Century Wooden Drop Leaf End / Side Table
By Andreas Tuck
Located in Queens, NY
Scandinavian Mid-Century end / side table with a rectangular top and drop leaf extensions on either side and a lower stretcher shelf connecting four taper...
Wood
Hans Wegner Danish Modern Teak & Oak Drop Leaf End Table for Andreas Tuck
By Andreas Tuck, Hans J. Wegner
Located in Chesterfield, NJ
Beautifully crafted early example end or side table designed by Hans Wegner and manufactured in Denmark by cabinet maker, Andreas Tuck. This teak and oak table has two extendable sid...
Oak, Teak
You know the designs, now get the stories about how they came to be.
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.
