Round Chair

Why it is renowned

In 1950 the Round Chair prompted the first report on Danish design abroad, in the American magazine Interiors; it became one of the most sought-after designs on the American market, where it was known simply as "The Chair".¹ American journalists had first seen it at the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers' Guild exhibition of 1949, and Interiors called it the most beautiful chair in the world.² On 26 September 1960 John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon sat in it for the first televised presidential debate in the United States.¹² The Museum of Modern Art in New York holds an oak and cane example made by Johannes Hansen, a gift of Georg Jensen, Inc.³

Recognition

• Museum of Modern Art, New York³an oak and cane Round Chair made by Johannes Hansen in its collection
• Interiors, United States¹1950the first foreign report on Danish design, prompted by the Round Chair
• 1960 US presidential debate³1960the seating of the first televised debate, Kennedy and Nixon

The story

Wegner showed the chair in 1949 on the stand of the master cabinetmaker Johannes Hansen, for whom he then worked.² In 1990 PP Møbler took over the collection Johannes Hansen had made in the 1950s and 1960s, and it has made the Round Chair since.⁴ It makes the chair in two models: the PP501 with a seat of natural cane and the PP503 with an upholstered seat.¹