I came across this desk online last week and was surprised to find out who designed and made it (both well known). Therefore, I thought I'd do a little ID quiz to see who is able to identify it at first sight. With a little digging around online, I'm sure the answer would present itself, but who is able to recognize it without searching. The desk is labeled, Unfortunately, this is the only photo of this particular desk (besides the label) that was on that webpage.
Indeed, Hans Wegner for Johannes Hansen. Here is the label from the desk. Apparently it is part of the Kontour line of office furniture designed in 1965, as the timely appearance in the Jan 1966 Mobilia issue can attest. The desks in the Mobilia spread can be found here and there online, but I have not seen any other examples of the model shown in the initial post.
Can't say that I'm a big fan of this Wegner/JH collaboration. I have not had the opportunity to examine any piece from this line up close to check construction quality (i assume it must be good). But the overall image of the design itself just doesn't measure up to what they produced during the previous two decades.. It actually looks American to me.
Correct, although the auction was just this past weekend. I was considering bidding on it if the price stayed low, but they never started taking bids for the lot, and officially listed it as "lot passed". Not sure what the issue was, but it may mean that it resurfaces again at the next auction.
The pessimistic side of me thinks they may have just sold it beforehand in a private transaction and removed it from the auction.
In 1966 the Copenhagen Cabinetmaker Exhibitions ceased. By this point in time the cabinetmakers were struggling for business because the factories were making much more furniture at a more attractive price point. I can't help but see this line as an attempt for Johannes Hansen to find a more competitive product. Perhaps there was even an American influence. Hopefully not in the construction though.
Here are a few pics I took while visiting the Wegner exhibit at the Danish Design Museum in 2014. Lovely piece with similar pulls/handles. I took a few extra pics of this one due to the handles.
I posted a Danish Desk (likely from the late 40s) that had similar handles a few months back...( http://www.designaddict.com/forum/Identification/Ole-Wanscher-Desk-or-no...). This desk is obviously not a Wegner piece, but thought the use of similar handles was interesting.
I've also attached an ad that I took a pic of at the same exhibit (for similar reasons - handles).
Just thought I'd share.
I just stumbled across another twist for this design series. Every few months or so, I'll flip through an old reference book quickly to see if anything I had previously skipped over would catch my eye the next time around.
Sure enough, I just looked through Den Store Dansk Mobelguide and found an L-desk that appears to be from this series. However the authors have credited the manufacturer as Ry Mobler, not Johannes Hansen. Since there are JH labels on other pieces from this design series, then either 1) Ry Mobler made a factory version of this design, or 2) the authors were mistaken and incorrectly credited the desk to Wegner's main casework factory.
Anyone with old Ry Mobler (or Salesco) catalogs out there?
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