Hans J. Wegner, Halyard chair for PP Møbler

HANS J. WEGNER (Denmark, 1914 - 2007) for PP Møbler.
"Halyard chair, model PP225, design 1950.
Armchair with black steel frame, seat and back with original Flagline and black leather headrest.
Minimal signs of use.
Manufactured by PP Møbler.
Measurements: 80 x 115 x 104 cm; 38 cm (seat height).

The Halyard chair is a clear homage to early modern designers such as Le Corbusier, Van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer. Conceived during a vacation at Wegner's summer home (when the designer dug a hole in the sand, lay down and imagined how it could act as an armchair), this chair is distinguished by its solid steel frame of typically Danish heritage. Wegner himself stated, "We have to be careful that everything we don't get is so terribly serious. We have to play - but we have to play in a serious way."

Hans J. Wegner was a leading figure in furniture design, whose ideas contributed to the international popularity of Danish design in the mid-20th century. His work belongs to the modern school, characterized by a special emphasis on functionality. He began his training at a very young age, as an apprentice to the cabinetmaker H. F. Stahlberg. He soon discovered a special taste for the use of wood, and his work in the cabinetmaker's workshop allowed him to experiment with different types and designs. At the age of seventeen he finished his apprenticeship, although he remained in the workshop for another three years, until he joined the army. After his military service he entered a technical school, and then the Danmarks Designskole, where he was taught by O. Mølgaard Nielsen, and the Academy of Architecture in Copenhagen. In the Danish capital he came into contact with the Furniture Exhibitions of the Carpenters' Guild, where he began to show his creations in 1927. During these years Wegner collaborated with master cabinetmakers such as J. Hansen, L. Pontoppidan, N. Vodder, J. Kjaer, A. J. Iversen, Moos and R. Rasmussen, as well as with the most prominent Danish architects of the time, among them K. Klint, V. Lauritzen and V. Lauritzen. Klint, V. Lauritzen. O. Wanscher and M. Voltelen. The annual exhibitions would give the young cabinetmaker experience of what could be achieved with the combination of design and craftsmanship, which led him to devote himself fully to design. Already in his early pieces, Wegner showed his interest in the concept of "stripping antique chairs of their outer style and showing them in their pure structure." Throughout his career, the designer was awarded prizes such as the Lunning Prize in 1951, the Grand Prix de Milan at the Milan Triennale of the same year, the Prince Eugene Medal in Sweden and the Danish Exkersberg Medal. In 1959 he was appointed honorary royal designer for industry by the Royal Society of Arts in London. Currently his designs are present in collections such as the MoMA in New York or Die Neue Samlung in Munich.