1788 armchair
customized
from 3182 €
glossy lacquered oak - leather 88
3325 €
black lacquered oak - leather 88
3325 €
soaped oak - Rime 781 fabric
3182 €
soaped oak - Rime 641 fabric
3182 €
soaped oak - Rime 151 fabric
3182 €
soaped oak - Canvas 174 fabric
3276 €
oiled oak - Crisscross 1401 fabric
3182 €
black painted oak
(wood rain visible)
smoked oak
clear lacquered oak
oiled oak
soaped oak
Hans J. Wegner
Hans J. Wegner was born in 1914 in Tønder, Denmark, the son of a shoemaker. At the age of 17, he finished his apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker with H. F. Stahlberg, in whose workshops Wegner’s first design experiments took form. He moved to Copenhagen as a 20 year-old, and attended the School of Arts and Crafts from 1936 – 1938 before he began working as an architect.
As a young architect, Wegner joined Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller in Århus, working on furniture design for the new Århus city hall in 1940. It was during the same year that Wegner began collaborating with master cabinetmaker, Johannes Hansen, who was a driving force in bringing new furniture design to the Danish public.
The Copenhagen Museum of Art and Industry acquired its first Wegner chair in 1942.
Wegner started his own design office in 1943. It was in 1944 that he designed the first “Chinese chair” in a series of new chairs that were inspired by portraits of Danish merchants sitting in Ming chairs. One of these chairs, the “Wishbone Chair”, designed in 1949 and produced by Carl Hansen & Son in Odense since 1950, became the most successful of all Wegner chairs.
Among Danish furniture designers, Hans J. Wegner is considered one of the most creative and productive. He has received practically every major recognition given to designers, including the Lunning prize, the grand prix of the Milan Triennale, Sweden’s Prince Eugen medal and the Danish Eckersberg medal. Wegner is an honorary Royal designer for industry of the Royal Society of Arts in London. Almost all of the world’s major design museums – from The Museum of Modern Art in New York to Die Neue Sammlung in Munich – include his furniture in their collections.
Hans J. Wegner died in Denmark in January, 2007.
Hans J. Wegner’s contribution to Danish Modern:
- First a cabinetmaker, then a designer: integrates exacting joinery techniques and exquisite form.
- A deep respect for wood and its characteristics – and an abiding curiosity about other natural materials
- Brings an organic, natural softness to formalistic minimalism
- Generally regarded as ”the master of the chair”, with more than 400 chair designs to his name
The armchair can be upholstered with a wide collection of fabrics and leathers. Delivery time is approx. 6 / 8 weeks. We have a wide collection of samples, we will gladly send it to you against deposit. Do not hesitate to contact us to talk directly of your project.
customize your 1788 armchair
ready-made versions
The 1788 armchair was designed in 1963. Its appearance is particularly striking thanks to the lightweight design made in wood and the comfortable cushions. The elegant armchair with its classical expression is perfect for both public spaces or private homes.
Alongside his friend and colleague, Børge Mogensen, Hans J. Wegner worked on the exhibition project Copenhagen Cabinetmaker’s Guild Exhibition in 1945. Together, they presented the « A Home for the Future » during which the 1788 armchair was introduced. However, despite the public acclamation, it was regarded as too refined for this post-war era, thus the production was launched for the first time nearly twenty years later in 1963.
Dimensions H88 x W65.5 x D70 cm – seat height 43.5cm
