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Ox Chair is Wegners’ boldest and most sculptural piece of work and it beautifully demonstrates his innovative approach to design that was at once artistic and extravagant.
The chair, which was allegedly the designer’s own favourite, was designed back in 1960. Due to its complex upholstery, however, it was first put into successful production in 1989, when Wegener trusted the job with Erik Jørgensen. That same year, the Ox Chair was introduced at the Milan Furniture Fair where it instantly manifested itself as a true design classic, admired for its sophisticated construction and sculptural expression.
The first Ox Chair to be produced at Erik Jørgensen Møbelfabrik was made without the benefit of a drawing, since none existed. However, the company’s upholstery expertise made it possible to perfect the demanding design of the chair in a close collaboration with Wegner. Wegner put existing chairs at the company’s disposal from so they could work out how to perfect the upholstery process.
The Ox Chair was not only innovative; with this chair, Wegner also challenged the neat and understated expression he had been taught at the School of Arts and Crafts. In a new expression for Wegner, the chair’s voluminous upper body rests on a delicate steel base.
Son of a shoe-maker in southern Jutland, Hans Wegner, finished his formal training as a cabinetmaker with master cabinetmaker Stahlberg in 1930 before starting at Teknologisk Institut in Copenhagen. He soon moved to the School of Arts and Crafts in the Danish capital where he became architect in 1938, and started teaching in 1946.
In 1940 he joined Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller in Arhus, to design the furniture for the new Arhus city hall. He started to work with 'minister' cabinetmaker Johannes Hansen in 1940 and showed his first furniture in the famous Hansen store on Bredgade 65 in 1941. Johannes Hansen was more than twice as old as the 26 year old Wegner but the unique collaboration between the two became the undisputed backbone of Danish furniture design and the main reason for it's world wide recognition in the fifties and sixties. The Copenhagen Museum of Art and Industry acquired the first Wegner chair in 1942.
In 1943 he started his own design office and 1 year later designed the first of a long series of 'chinese' chairs inspired by portraits of Danish merchants sitting in Ming chairs for Fritz Hansen. In 1950 Wegner designed the “Wishbone Chair” produced by Carl Hansen & Søn in Odense which became the most successful of all Wegner chairs. Most well known for it’s use by Kennedy and Nixon in their famous CBS TV debate of 1960.
Inspiration
Hee Welling x HAY Designer talks. In conversation with Hee Welling
Hee Welling x HAY Designer talks. In conversation with Hee Welling
Hee Welling x HAY Designer talks. In conversation with Hee Welling
Hee Welling x HAY Designer talks. In conversation with Hee Welling
