Hans J. Wegner - Nordic Design London Tuesday, September 23, 2014 | Phillips

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  • Provenance

    Private collection, West Bloomfield, Michigan

  • Literature

    John Entenza, ed., arts & architecture, Los Angeles, November 1951, p. 30
    Grete Jalk, ed., Dansk Møbelkunst gennem 40 aar, Volume 3: 1947-1956, Copenhagen, 1987, p. 142
    Christian Holmsted Olesen, Wegner: just one good chair, exh. cat., Design Museum Denmark, 2014, p. 184

  • Catalogue Essay

    In Hans Wegner's own words, to design one good chair was a process subject to continuous changes and improvements: ‘I have the feeling that the more I work on it, the more it keeps moving farther and farther away. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. You can’t make something definitive’.
    In 1949 Wegner wanted to create a chair with more flexibility from his previous productions that could be folded and hanged, if necessary. From the rational perfection of the first of this series, the ‘folding chair’, he moved towards a more playful model improved with armrests, in his opinion an appropriate addition. The introduction of armrests, giving the chair its diving dolphin look, improved the folding chair not only in comfort but also in elegance. Wegner accomplished the design of a functional chair without compromising the decorative value of the object.

    The present model was exhibited at the 'Copenhagen Cabinetmakers’ Guild', Kunstindustrimuseet, Copenhagen, 22 September-8 October, 1950, Stand 19.

48

Rare 'Dolphin' folding armchair, model no. JH510

1950
Oak, cane, brass.
95.3 x 72.4 x 90.2 cm (37 1/2 x 28 1/2 x 35 1/2 in.)
Executed by cabinetmaker Johannes Hansen, Denmark.

Estimate
£40,000 - 60,000 Ω

Sold for £76,900

Contact Specialist
Ben Williams
bwilliams@phillips.com
+44 20 7318 4027

Nordic Design

London 24 September 2014 6pm