Wishbone chair

Inspirations for the Wishbone Chair

Wooden chairs from the Ming Dynasty

Hans Wegner's first Chinese Chair

Wegner's Fourth China Chair

In 1948, Holger Hansen of Carl Hansen & Søn and Mogens Tuck of Andreas Tuck co-commissioned Wegner to produce nine pieces of furniture. Wegner would create four tables for Andreas Tuck and four chairs and a sideboard for Carl Hansen & Søn. The companies worked closely together and benefited from jointly marketing their chairs and tables. ^[7]

Wegner produced CH22, CH23, CH24, and CH25 for the chairs and CH304 for the sideboard.^[7] CH24, soon to be known as the Wishbone Chair, was an iteration of Wegner's Chinese Chair series. The Chinese Chairs were produced for Fritz Hansen starting in 1944 and took inspiration from the round wooden seats of Ming China.

Hansen was initially displeased with Wegner's designs, which he felt resembled garden furniture, and the complexity of the manufacturing required to bring the items into production. The manufacturing process was beyond the scope of Carl Hansen & Søn's factory; the back legs of the Wishbone chair had to be turned by a sub-supplier, and the steam bending of the top bar had to be done at an outside factory.^[7] Nevertheless, all of the chair designs went into production the following year.^[7] The Wishbone Chair became his greatest commercial success and has remained in continuous production.^{[2] [8]} In the mid-1990s, Carl Hansen & Søn increased the seat height of the chair by 2 cm to reflect the increase in height of the European and American populations purchasing the chair.^[4] The chair in its original dimensions is still produced and sold in Asia.^[9]

Each year, Carl Hansen & Son releases a limited edition of the chair in honor of Wegner's birthday. In 2018, they released a dark oak wood.^[10] In 2019, they released a version with a leather seat.^[11] In 2020, they released the chair in navy blue.^[12]

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  Wishbone Chair in white
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  Close-up view
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  The Wishbone Chair on display
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  Limited edition Wishbone Chair with leather seat
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  Wishbone Chair with accessory seat covers on display
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  Wishbone Chairs on display at Illums Bolighus