[Advertisement – This post is in collaboration with Holloways of Ludlow]
Back in 2020, my family and I had been due to spend Christmas in Copenhagen, but thanks to COVID, we, like everyone else, had to stay home. So, to bring the place we love most a little nearer, that holiday I received a very special gift from my husband, four Wishbone Chairs.
Officially known by its maker, Carl Hansen & Søn as the CH24, the Wishbone Chair stands as one of the most recognisable icons of modern Nordic design. Globally admired and often copied, its elegant, curved frame can be found in some of the world’s best restaurants and hotels as well as private homes just like mine.
One of four test chairs that revered Danish designer Hans J. Wegner created within his first few weeks collaborating with the brand back in 1949, the wonderful Wishbone has remained in continuous production ever since.
“The first chairs that Wegner created for Carl Hansen & Søn were regarded as extremely avant-garde at the time. There was a completely new and exciting mode of expression to the work, but also a simplicity that appealed to many people,” explains Carl Hansen & Søn CEO, Knud Erik Hansen.
It was in fact Knud Erik’s father, Holger Hansen, who established this pioneering partnership, a pairing that would go on to define the company’s continued pursuit of craftsmanship, creativity and quality.
And yet, behind this simple and refined expression lies a complex process of 100 steps. Still largely crafted by hand at Carl Hansen & Søn’s factory in Gelsted on the Danish island of Funen, their talented furniture-makers and weavers use the same methods from when it was first introduced.
To start with, fourteen individual components, cut from either oak, beech, ash or walnut are shaped, turned, and sanded with precision. With the defining ‘wishbone’ shaped backrest, after which the chair is named, created from four pieces that combine into one.
This is then followed by adding the upper rail that forms the chair’s curved back and arm rests made from one solid piece of steam-bent timber, before the whole frame is carefully checked, sanded and treated with oil, soap, lacquer, or a picture-perfect paint finish.
The envelope pattern seat, meanwhile, just as it always was, is expertly hand-woven from 120m of FSC-certified paper cord – a highly durable and completely biodegradable material with a lifespan of around 50 years.
More than just a piece of furniture, the long-lasting appeal of the Wishbone Chair is not just down to Wegner’s uncompromising approach to form, function and comfort, but in its ability to become part of any home, anywhere.
This is why leading British retailer Holloways of Ludlow, a specialist in Nordic design, has recently teamed up with Carl Hansen & Søn on an exclusive installation. Running through to September and situated on the first floor of their Bath showroom on Milsom Street, this inspirational space with its earthy ochre walls and deep red window frames allows visitors to experience this much-loved product first-hand.
Bringing together a combination of the classic and contemporary, and including an array of wood finishes, nature-inspired colour options by British interior designer Ilse Crawford as well as the newly launched Wishbone Chair with a soft leather seat (as premiered at this year’s 3 Days of Design), investing in this enduring design will be something you never regret.
Mark Holloway, Founder and CEO at Holloways of Ludlow, concludes, “It is always a pleasure to collaborate with Carl Hansen. The collection includes some of the most important pieces of furniture created in the last eighty years and the craftsmanship is second to none. I love working with customers who recognise this wonderful combination of design and quality and see the value in investing in pieces that will last a lifetime and beyond.”
Find out more
Find the Carl Hansen & Søn installation at Holloways of Ludlow, 37 Milsom Street, Bath, BA1 1DN, until September 2026. You can also shop Carl Hansen pieces online via the Holloways of Ludlow website. Look out too for special discounts, events and workshops taking place.
All images by Nicola Capper.
Enjoyed this post? Then read about another Nordic design icon, The Snowball Lamp by Northern.
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