Tuesday 8 December 2009

The Hans Wegner Wishbone Chair

I love these chairs, but they are so difficult to do. Mr Wegner was a brilliant designer, but I often wonder if he ever actually put a seat into one of his chairs especially the ones that have this rush pattern weave! Tension is so critical as is cramming in as many coils as possible, it is the one seat weaving job that is hard on the hands. This particular chair is an original 50's/60's oak version, so has a lovely patina. It had been re-woven once before, but because it was done in the wrong material and pattern it had sagged badly, this is what it looked like.



Here it is now.



It goes home tomorrow. Now I go back to more cane panels, a footstool, some drop-in Magistretti rush seats and the Davenport of course.

2 comments:

Sonicjourneys said...

The Chair looks wonderful! We have just rebuilt 6 of these and pulled off a not-so-good upholstery job. We would like to try to weave these ourselves now. Are there instructions anywhere we might find online?? We would also be interested in purchasing plans if they are available. Of course, we are willing to learn as we go.....

Thanks in advance!

Kim said...

Hello Sonicjourneys! My honest advice is to get your seats re-woven by a professional, they are really difficult to get right even with experience. You've already invested a lot of time working to restore the frames, the seats will "make or break" the finished item. As far as I'm aware there are no special plans/instructions online for these because the truth is so much of the "knack" comes from doing quite a few of them, it's in the feel of it. If you are still really determined to have a go at it yourself, then one of you best ports of call is the "Wicker Womans" site run by Cathryn Peters. She has endless references available including a message board. Hope this helps!