The Wishbone Chair, also known as the CH24 ChairorY Chair is a chair designed by Hans Wegner in 1949 for Carl Hansen & Søn. The chair features a bentwood armrest and a paper cord rope seat in a woven envelope pattern. The chair is named after the Y or wishbone-shaped backrest. The design was inspired by Ming-era chairs.[1]
The chair, Wegner's best selling design is a notable example of Danish furniture design.[2][3] The chair has been in continuous production since its original release. The chair is especially popular in Japan, where sales in the country account for more than a quarter of the annual production.[4] There is an entire book dedicated to the chair published in the Japanese language.[5]
[The Wishbone chair] is an understated work of simplicity and comfort, its graceful shape hinting at both East Asian design and modernist ideals.
In 1948, Holger Hansen of Carl Hansen & Søn and Mogens Tuck of Andreas Tuck together commissioned Wegner to produce nine pieces of furniture. Wegner would create four tables for Andreas Tuck and four chairs and a sideboard for Carl Hansen & Søn. The companies worked closely together and benefited from being able to market their chairs and tables together. [7]
Wegner produced CH22, CH23, CH24, and CH25 for the chairs and CH304 for the sideboard.[7] CH24, soon to be known as the Wishbone Chair, was an iteration of Wegner's Chinese Chair series. The Chinese Chairs were produced for Fritz Hansen starting in 1944 and took inspiration from the round wooden seats of Ming China.
Hansen was originally displeased with Wegner's designs, which he felt looked like garden furniture, and the complexity of the manufacturing required to put the items into production. The manufacturing process was beyond the scope of Carl Hansen & Søn's factory; the back legs of the Wishbone chair had to be turned by a sub-supplier and the steam bending of the top bar had to be done at an outside factory.[7] Nevertheless, all of the chair designs went into production the following year.[7] The Wishbone Chair became his greatest commercial success and has remained in continuous production.[2][8]
In the mid-1990s, Carl Hansen & Søn increased the seat height of the chair by 2 cm to reflect the increase in height of the European and American populations purchasing the chair.[4] The chair in its original dimensions is still produced and sold in Asia.[9]
Each year, Carl Hansen & Son releases a limited edition of the chair for Wegner's birthday. In 2018, they released a dark oak wood.[10] In 2019, they released a version with a leather seat.[11] In 2020, they released the chair in navy blue.[12]
