Hans J Wegner for Johannes Hansen, model JH501 chair, known as The Chair or The Round Chair, designed 1949, in oak and cane.

Known as The Round Chair, or simply The Chair, Hans J Wegner created the design for Johannes Hansen to display at the annual exhibition of the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers’ Guild in 1949. The early examples had a mortise and tenon joint connecting the backrest with the arms but Wegner considered this unsightly and came up with the idea of cane wrapping to create the illusion that the backrest and arms were constructed from a single piece of wood. In 1950 he redesigned the joint to his satisfaction and thereafter the cane wrapping was not used. Later versions of the chair were produced with leather upholstery, including those used by John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in the first 1960 U.S. Presidential debate.

This early example bears the manufacturer’s stamp to the underside.

A second chair is available upon request.