Valet Chair Model 540 Designed by Hans J. Wegner for Johannes Jansen, Denmark

Teak, oak and brass.

Stamped.

H: 94 cm
W: 51 cm
D: 50 cm
SH: 44.5 cm

Hans J. Wegner is the father of Danish design and is well known for creating some of the most iconic chairs of the past 100 years. The son of a cobbler, Wegner brought Danish design to the international stage through his deep understanding and enjoyment of wood as well as an eye for beautiful and ergonomic design that had hitherto existed.

Wegner’s furniture was intended, as he said to be “as simple and genuine as possible, to show what we could create with our hands, to try to make wood come alive, to give it spirit and vitality, and to get things to be so natural that they could only have been made by us.” Wegner’s success together with this design ethos ensured that his impact on design was recognised with an honorary membership of the Royal Danish Academy for the Fine Arts in 1995, and by being given an honorary doctorate at Royal College of Art in 1997. Danish design is seen as one of the most important creative movements of the 20th century and with Wenger recognised as its father he is indeed one of the most influential figures in modern design.