Knoll’s interest in the chair designs of Hans Wegner coincided with interest in Jørgen Rasmussen. Although a fellow Dane, Wegner took a different approach to chair design, with his emphasis on the natural beauty of wood for seating and later, storage cabinetry. Born in the town of Tønder in1914, Wegner was apprenticed to a cabinet maker in his early teens. He attended two technical design schools but World War II interrupted and eventually prevented the completion of his studies. Nevertheless, his continual working experience gave him the practical education he needed to hone his craft and design ability.
After the war, Wegner moved to Copenhagen with his wife to accept an offer to teach at the Danish School of Arts and Crafts. Wegner had met furniture manufacturer Johannes Hansen, in 19411; his first notable design for Hansen was a large, fan-back chair having distinctive splayed spindles used in the back of the chair. This chair was designed in 1947 and entered production by Hansen that year.2
Wegner’s next chair for Hansen appeared in 1949 and became known simply as the Round Chair, for the one-piece back and arms, with a woven cane seat. The JH501 was supremely comfortable and showed Wegner’s attention to human factors as much as aesthetics. The CBS broadcasting network bought a dozen examples for use during the 1961 televised presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
Wegner’s reputation moved him to seek other design and manufacturing opportunities during the 1950s and 1960s but his relationship with Johannes Hansen remained the most stable. Wegner even addressed the office chair market in 19553 with a generous back and integrated arms of teak having a minimal steel tube support on an upholstered seat and mounted to a conventional four-leg steel base with casters. In 1969, Knoll secured the distribution rights to Wegner’s chairs manufactured by Johannes Hansen. This included a cabinet design available in seven different interior configurations. This cabinet was offered in oak, teak or walnut. Although seven examples of Wegner’s chairs were shown in the Knoll au Louvre catalog of the 1972 exhibition in Paris, only the 60-105 lounge chair of 1947 and the 60-155 armchair, along with the cabinets, were listed in the 1973 Price List.4 The Wegner Collection for Knoll remained available through the fall of 1978.5
1. Christine Rae, Knoll au Louvre. (New York: Chantcleer Press, 1971).
2. Charlotte and Peter Fiell, 1000 Chairs. (Köln: TASCHEN, 2005), 213.
3. Jonathan Olivares, A Taxonomy of Office Chairs. (New York: Paidon Press Inc., 2011), 38.
4. Knoll International Furniture Price List 1973. 13, 111.
5. “Changes, Deletions, Additions.” Knoll Contract Price Schedule 9/12/78.