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15 March 2010

a wishbone for everyone

The Look for Less: The Wegner Wishbone chair for purists and wishful thinkers

The Wegner Wishbone chair, above left, starts at $699 at Room & Board. The Hannah chair, center, is $79 at Urban Home and the Wishbone chair, right, is $249 at Advanced Interior Designs, which offers 10% off orders of four chairs or more.

In 1950, the Danish furniture makers Carl Hansen & Son introduced Hans Wegner's CH 24, also known as the Wishbone chair, in a reference to the split back splat. The design is a sleek update of the Quan Yi chair, a ceremonial seat during China's Ming and Qing dynasties. Wegner's Danish modern style reduced the often ornately carved chair into a simple and lightweight form composed of curved and tapered dowels with a woven rush seat.

Casual enough for a kitchen table, the design is equally elegant in the dining room and functional as a bedroom side chair (the oxbow top rail is a great place to drape a jacket). It's hardly surprising, then, that the official Wegner Wishbone, which starts at around $699, has been widely imitated.

One of the chairs shown above is the authentic solid oak design made in Denmark, another is made from beech and sells for $249 and one costs a mere $79. Which is which and why do they cost what they do?

Read more here.

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