Know Your Chairs: The Wishbone Chair by Hans Wegner

When discussing iconic pieces in my recurring series of Know Your Chairs, few are as instantly recognizable--or as universally revered--as the CH24 Wishbone Chair. Designed in 1949 by Danish master Hans J. Wegner for Carl Hansen & Søn, the Wishbone Chair is a hallmark of modernist simplicity and craftsmanship, blending form, function, and beauty in a way that has endured for over 70 years.

Wishbone chair, in the collection of the National Museum of Norway

Hans J. Wegner, often dubbed the “Master of the Chair,” was one of the leading figures in the Danish modern movement. In collaboration with Carl Hansen & Søn, he set out to create a chair that was both practical and sculpturally elegant. Inspired by portraits of Danish merchants sitting in Chinese Ming Dynasty-era chairs, Wegner distilled this aesthetic through the lens of Scandinavian minimalism.

The result was the CH24, commonly referred to as the Wishbone Chair or Y-chair due to the distinctive Y-shaped back support that provides comfort while echoing the organic form of a wishbone. The chair was designed as a single piece, meant to be lightweight, strong, and comfortable without the need for upholstery.

Each Wishbone Chair is a testament to high-level craftsmanship. It takes over 100 individual steps to produce just one chair, including the hand-weaving of the seat from more than 120 meters of paper cord—a durable material that adds warmth and texture to the piece.

The frame is traditionally made from solid wood, such as oak, beech, ash, or walnut, and finished in a range of natural or lacquered options. This blend of natural materials and meticulous attention to detail speaks to the values of quality and sustainability that have kept the chair in continuous production since its release.

The CH24 is more than just a piece of furniture—it’s a symbol of the post-war design movement that prioritized honest materials and human-centered design. It helped to define Danish modernism and has influenced generations of designers worldwide.

Its elegance and versatility have made it a favorite in both residential and commercial interiors, fitting seamlessly into dining rooms or living areas as an occasional chair. And because of its history, it can live comfortably in traditional or contemporary schemes.

by Chambers & Chambers

by Commune Design

by Studio Shamshiri

by Commune Design

by Mandy Cheng Design

Astonishingly, the Hans Wegner Wishbone Chair has never gone out of production. It’s been manufactured continuously since around 1950. You can purchase one from authorized dealers Carl Hansen & Søn, Design Within Reach, and Hive Modern.

Happy designing!

"Architects & Chairs" by Jorge Arévalo

This is "Know Your Chairs" month here at the ol' FID blog and I will be sharing with you a very interesting chair on the 24th, but for now, I want to show you the delightful work of master illustrator Jorge Arévalo. He created a series called "Architects and Chairs" where he puts the architect on or near the chair they designed which defines their individual legacy (some designers have more than one!). The precise, pointy style in which he renders people feels a little retro, perfect for the subject of Modernist furniture. All these are available as prints at the shop on his website!

Happy designing!

History of Furniture: Alvar Aalto's Tea Cart

For my series of posts I call "Hisotry of Furniture," I usually cover an era or time period, or style movement. But this time, I would like to focus on a specific piece of furniture from a period. When we think of iconic mid-century design, names like Eames previously seen here, and Breuer previously seen here, often surface—but in the Scandinavian design tradition, few names are as revered as Alvar Aalto. Aalto’s work seamlessly blends modernism with organic form, and few objects capture his ethos as elegantly as the Tea Trolley 901 and 900, commonly known as his bar carts.

Alvar Aalto's Tea Trolley 901

Alvar Aalto designed the Tea Trolley 900 and 901 in 1936 for the Paris World’s Fair (Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne). Working closely with his wife, Aino Aalto, who was also a significant design force, the trolleys were part of a broader vision of bringing warmth and humanism to the functional, and often cold, lines of modernism.

Crafted for their company Artek, the bar carts represented an intersection of function, form, and local material culture. Drawing inspiration from British tea culture and Japanese architecture—which Aalto deeply admired—the design combines Finnish birch wood, ceramic tiles, rattan, and linoleum with soft curves and an unmistakable Scandinavian restraint.

Unlike many of his contemporaries who leaned into the industrial aesthetic of steel and sharp lines, Aalto emphasized natural materials and flowing forms. The Tea Trolley 900 is perhaps the more decorative of the two: featuring a tiled tabletop surface and a wicker basket, it’s a functional yet graceful object, originally intended for serving tea or cocktails. The Tea Trolley 901, on the other hand, is a simpler, more utilitarian version with a slatted wooden tray and a linoleum surface.

Alvar Aalto's Tea Trolley 900

Both trolleys ride on oversized, wood-rimmed rubber wheels—a signature feature that makes them instantly recognizable. This attention to detail not only adds charm but ensures the cart can be easily maneuvered, making it as practical as it is beautiful.

The Aalto bar cart is more than a serving trolley; it’s a statement of design philosophy. At a time when modernism often meant mechanization and metal, Aalto’s use of natural materials and gentle forms introduced a more human-centered approach. His bar carts exemplify his belief in the psychological and emotional impact of design.

Moreover, the piece speaks to a deeper cultural narrative—a celebration of hospitality, simplicity, and function, all central tenets of Nordic living. In today’s interiors, whether minimalist or eclectic, the Aalto bar cart fits with quiet confidence, often acting as both a conversation piece and a functional element.

Today, the Aalto bar cart continues to be produced by Artek--you can buy the 900 here or the 901 here--and remains a staple in design-conscious homes, hotels, and museums. Its timeless appeal lies in its versatility—used as a drinks trolley, side table, or even a mobile plant stand. Its elegant lines and material warmth ensure it never feels out of place, even in contemporary interiors.

Happy designing!

Know Your Chairs: The F300 by Pierre Paulin

I have posted about French furniture and interior designer Pierre Paulin and his wonderful creations previously here. Not all of his pieces are still in production but thankfully Danish furniture company GUBI, started in 1967, just reintroduced one of Paulin's iconic designs. So for this installation of Know Your Chairs, let's look at the refreshed F300 chair!

Created by Paulin in 1965 and released by furniture manufacturer Artifort that same year, the first F300s were produced in fiberglass or injected polyurethane, allowing for contoured ergonomic comfort while maintaining a visually light expression. GUBI says they have responsibly upgraded the production of the F300 for the 21st century, which is now crafted in Italy from the engineered polymer HiREK®, made using industrial plastic waste. Retaining the durability of plastic, HiREK is lightweight and resistant to UV, weathering, and pressure. Most importantly, HiREK produces a smooth, high-gloss surface without requiring additional finishing processes, perfectly replicating the performance and aesthetic of the original materials while minimizing waste created during production.

I love how, despite the fact that the chair references a certain, sleek, man-made aesthetic, it still managese to present an alluring organic shape. And I really love how the uphosltery creeps down the legs a bit...

Like so many pieces of furniture from Europe in the mid-sixties through the seventies, many Paulin pieces showed up in sci-fi films and television shows (the Paulin Ribbon chair was a staple on "Space: 1999" and even had a cameo in "Blade Runner 2049") and the F300 is no exception! It appeared in the film "Star Trek III: The Search For Spock" and on several episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

You can now have your own Pierre Paulin F300 chair from GUBI or Design Within Reach, available in two colors for the frame and many fabric and leather color options for the upholstery.

Happy designing!

Know Your Chairs: The Bertoia Diamond Chair

This installation of Know Your Chairs focuses on a hallmark of mid-century design. Harry Bertoia's wire-framed Diamond chair emerged from the luxury of the time and space required for its creation.

Bertoia was born in Italy but moved to the United States at the age of 15 with his older brother, Oreste. He learned English and studied jewelry making from 1930 to 1936. But in 1937, something happened that would change his life and contribute to art and design in a meaningful way. He received a scholarship to study at the Cranbrook Academy of Art where he encountered Walter Gropius (founder of the legendary Bauhaus School in Germany, previously here), Ray and Charles Eames (influential pioneers of architecture and design, previously here), and Florence Knoll (architect and interior/furniture designer who, along with her husband Hans, started the revolutionary company Knoll Associates, now known simply as Knoll).

After moving from a student of painting to teaching jewelry and metal work, he was recruited to join Charles and Ray Eames in California to work on the development of their molded plywood products. But what happened next is a wonderful example of networking and simply putting yourself "out there" as the saying goes. The official Knoll site describes it well:

"On the suggestion of Herbert Matter, who had worked alongside Eames and Bertoia, Florence and Hans [Knoll] traveled to California and encouraged Bertoia to move east and set up his own metal shop in a corner of Knoll’s production facility. Having studied with Bertoia at Cranbrook, Florence was sure that he would produce something extraordinary if given the time and space to experiment.

Characteristic of the early environment at Knoll, Hans and Florence never demanded that Bertoia design furniture, but instead encouraged him to explore whatever he liked. They simply asked that if he arrived at something interesting, to show them. Needless to say, Harry Bertoia arrived at something outstanding. His iconic wire furniture collection, introduced in 1952, is recognized worldwide as one of the great achievements of 20th century furniture design."

The chair can be used without a seat pad for outdoor--or even indoor--lounging...

The pad provides some cushion and presents an opportunity to introduce color into a space.

The Diamond Chair is also offered with a full body pad!

The Diamond Chair is still in production and can be purchased from Knoll or Design Within Reach!

Take a look at the official Harry Bertoia website to see his marvelous paintings and sculptures as well.

Happy designing!

History of Furniture: Sheraton

For this installment of the History of Furniture, I propose a look at a style known as Sheraton, based on the work of Thomas Sheraton, an English writer and furniture designer who lived from 1751 to 1806. He was trained as a cabinet (furniture) maker but is best known as the author of many volumes illustrating what came to be known as the Sheraton Style, starting in 1791 with The Cabinet Maker's and Upholsterer's Drawing Book.

Scholarly sources put the start of the Sheraton Style at either 1780 or 1790 (Wiki splits the difference and cites 1785) but most agree that it saw its end in 1820. As I have said before in this series, if you want to discover why a certain style or movement looks the way it does, you simply need to look at the styles immediately preceding it and you will see that, generally, the style is a reaction to and against its antecedent. And what came before this period was Baroque and Rococo, a highly detailed, heavily decorated, and dizzyingly ornamented style championed by Louis XV. When Louis XVI took over, tastes turned from such sinuous ornamentation--or rather I should say tastes returned to something sleeker, cleaner: Classicism.

This Neo-Classicism and the reign of Louis XVI ran from 1774 - 1793. As you can see by all the dates involved, Sheraton was simply following the fashion of the day. So Sheraton (as well as some other styles around and overlapping Sheraton, like Directoire--previously here--and Empire--previously here--in France, and the Federal style in the United States which saw a tremendous amount fo Sheraton-style furniture) embraced the silhouettes and motifs of ancient Greece and Rome, all based on symmetry and the straight line. Chair and sofa legs are straight, not the old cabriole shape of the past. They were round, sometimes slightly tapered, often with fluting like a Greek column--although it is not uncommon to see splayed back legs. The overall sense of Sheraton furniture is one of elegant, well-proportioned geometric shapes commonly made out of satinwood but mahogany and beech were also popular. Seat backs for chairs and settees are usually rectilinear. Pieces are decorated with small, low-relief carvings consisting of swags, lyres, ribbons, festoons, rams' heads, urns and flowers in the neoclassical tradition or inlaid with parquetry and veneers of exotic woods.

Happy designing!