Throughout Hans Wegner’s long career, he designed furniture mainly for Fritz Hansen and Johannes Hansen. Hans J. Wegner was a very talented and minimalistic designer, as his creation seemed to be extravagant in lay out, but were in reality a simple and innovative combination of materials that at first would have never even been put together. Finn Juhl named the Peacock Chair, after its distinctive back silhouette, by him just pointing out that it looked like a peacock, and then the suggestion stayed with the chair. And with all of Wegner’s designs he stuck to ideals of every piece having careful craftsmanship, with particular attention to the intricate shape, and its overall comfort, and the Peacock Chair was no different.
The chair was first introduced in 1947, and that was four years after leaving the practice of Arne Jacobsen, whom for a while he had worked for. The entire appearance of the Peacock Chair was a strong standing, postmodern and beautiful, but the advanced feel and aura it portrayed did well to hide its true age. Thus, the chair’s vibrance never really faded over the years, as later generations thought it to be a brand new design altogether. The chair was manufactured for a very long time by Johannes Hansen’s M?belsnedkeri A/S, but was later picked up and resumed by PP M?bler in 1992, as Wegner had upgraded the basic design in the late 1980s.
Hans Wegner also had a habit of forging historical lines with past and present chairs, as he loved to base them on one another, for example, the Peacock chair has it foundations from the Windsor Chair, another strong icon of his. The classic Windsor chair has many variations over the years, and the Peacock chair was thought to be one of them, but it was clearly stated that it was its own design, and that it was simply inspired from the earlier creation. The chair possesses a lot of deliberately modern lines, hence assisting to the modern look, but not based in looks alone, as the extravagant, sweeping back profile is intricately outlined with sticks of solid Ash. This is no easy accomplishment, but a carefully planned and patience required produce, that is brilliant example of comfort and ergonomic aesthetics, as the flat and smooth part of the sticks are positioned exactly where the shoulder blades make contact with the backrest. This simple but unique process is exactly what gives the chair its peacock like look and gleam.
The peacock design also provides huge support for the back and there is comfort for the arms as well. The armrests are made out of solid Ash, Oak or Teak, whilst the seat is made of woven cord. The dimensions of the chair consist of a height of 103cm, a depth 77cm, a seat measurement of 36cm, and an arm length of 61cm. The Peacock chair was and still is a work of joinery masterpiece, as Hans J. Wegner had a habit of making something great out of simple materials.