Early 'Flagline' Chair
by Hans Wegner
£45,000
Code
9883
Flag Halyard lounge chair, model no.GE 225, designed 1950
Original green lacquered steel and chromed frame, wooden 'shoes', flag halyard, orange canvas pillow, long-haired sheepskin
Manufactured by Getama
Provenance:
Private collection, Esbjerg, Denmark
Acquired from the above, 2014
Private collection, UK
Literature:
Dansk Kunsthåndværk, no. 5, 1950, p. 86.
The defining characteristic of the Flagline Chair is its use of hand-woven 'halyard' rope - a strong and hardy material much used in sailing and flagpoles. As legend attests, Hans Wegner's vision for the chair arose during a hot summer's afternoon in 1949 as he relaxed on the beach, ingeniously shaping the design while digging himself into the sand with a shovel. Later, back in the summerhouse, the 'King of Chairs', as he was often referred to, made his first preliminary design sketches, utilising the perfect lean-back position and seating angles that he had conceived on the beach.
Unveiled in 1950 at the Copenhagen Designmuseum, the chair received mixed reviews, Kaare Klint famously likening it to something from the gynaecologist's office. But the fashion world fawned and it was splashed across magazines, with models posing on its tightly wound string seat.
However, the chair was difficult to make. For several decades it was manufactured by Danish brand Getama in small quantities but by the late '80s it had gone out of production altogether. It was simply ahead of its time
Original green lacquered steel and chromed frame, wooden 'shoes', flag halyard, orange canvas pillow, long-haired sheepskin
Manufactured by Getama
Provenance:
Private collection, Esbjerg, Denmark
Acquired from the above, 2014
Private collection, UK
Literature:
Dansk Kunsthåndværk, no. 5, 1950, p. 86.
The defining characteristic of the Flagline Chair is its use of hand-woven 'halyard' rope - a strong and hardy material much used in sailing and flagpoles. As legend attests, Hans Wegner's vision for the chair arose during a hot summer's afternoon in 1949 as he relaxed on the beach, ingeniously shaping the design while digging himself into the sand with a shovel. Later, back in the summerhouse, the 'King of Chairs', as he was often referred to, made his first preliminary design sketches, utilising the perfect lean-back position and seating angles that he had conceived on the beach.
Unveiled in 1950 at the Copenhagen Designmuseum, the chair received mixed reviews, Kaare Klint famously likening it to something from the gynaecologist's office. But the fashion world fawned and it was splashed across magazines, with models posing on its tightly wound string seat.
However, the chair was difficult to make. For several decades it was manufactured by Danish brand Getama in small quantities but by the late '80s it had gone out of production altogether. It was simply ahead of its time
H 81cm x W 106cm x D 106cm
H 31.9" x W 41¾" x D 41¾"
H 31.9" x W 41¾" x D 41¾"
