[AD – Carl & Hansen & Søn supplied the chair featured here as a PR sample]
It’s the return of my series exploring the stories and inspirations behind some of my favourite designs, and today I’m focussing on an iconic piece of furniture created for Carl Hansen & Søn by renowned Danish Modernist Hans J. Wegner: the CH25 chair. Made from solid wood and paper cord, it’s a timeless Scandinavian classic that’s long been at the top of my wish-list, to the extent that our recent bedroom makeover was pretty much designed around it – and knowing more about its history only makes it more special.
Often referred to as the ‘master of chairs’ (he designed more than 500 of them during his lifetime), Hans J. Wegner was born in the southern Danish town of Tønder in 1914. He took an early interest in furniture and began an apprenticeship with master cabinetmaker H. F. Stahlberg at the age of 14, before moving to Copenhagen to attend the School of Arts and Crafts. He was subsequently invited by Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller to design pieces for the new Aarhus City Hall (meeting and marrying Jacobsen’s secretary Inga Helbo in the process), and collaborated with master cabinetmaker Johannes Hanse for the 1944 Cabinetmakers’ Guild Exhibition. These projects helped to shape his approach, which brought an organic softness to functional, minimalist design and embodied a deep respect for the qualities of wood and other natural materials.
Wegner’s partnership with Carl Hansen began in 1949 and the CH25 was one of his first designs for the company, launching a year later in 1950. Its distinctive shape exemplifies the way he balanced clean lines with graceful curves, and the angle of the tapered legs gives it a wonderful sense of lightness and elegance. What’s more, his choice of materials was revolutionary at the time. Woven paper cord was originally developed as an alternative to seagrass during the Second World War and had not been used on furniture before, but Wegner was impressed by its characteristics and it became a key feature in many of his designs. Not only is it highly durable, it also has a non-stretchy springiness that makes it very comfortable and supportive – and its texture offsets the smooth wood beautifully.
The CH25 chair has been in continuous production ever since and is still made by hand at Carl Hansen’s workshop on the island of Funen. It takes a skilled craftsperson around 10 hours and 400m of paper cord to create the seat and backrest, which are woven in a continuous pattern that looks just as a good from the back as from the front. They develop a lovely patina over time and, should they ever wear out, they can be repaired or rewoven, making the CH25 a piece that really will last for generations to come.
I’m delighted with my CH25 chair, which I’ve paired with a minimalist MO320 floor lamp (part of a new lighting series created for Carl Hansen by designer Mads Odgård) to form a tranquil reading corner. It fits in perfectly with the calming white and beige scheme, and the paper cord adds a lovely note of tactility to the room. It’s already become one of my favourite spots in the house and I often start and finish my day here, sipping coffee while gazing out of the window or settling back with a book and a glass of wine.
My CH25 is made of white-oiled oak, but it also comes in natural-oiled oak, soaped oak, black-stained oak, walnut and, as of this month, five limited-edition colours developed by London-based designer Ilse Crawford. Inspired by Nordic landscapes and the paintings of late Danish artist Per Kirkeby, they’re available across Wegner’s first five Carl Hansen chairs and have a muted, muddy quality about them. I love the way they give a new twist without detracting from his original designs, and they add a pop of colour to interiors in a subtle and very sophisticated way.
If you fancy treating yourself to a CH25 chair, you’ll find full details here.
Images six, 13, 14 and 15 via Carl Hansen & Søn; all other photography by Abi Dare
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