Carl Hansen & Son Wishbone Chair (CH24)

Overview

The Carl Hansen & Son Wishbone Chair, known formally as the CH24, is a dining chair born from the mind of Danish designer Hans J. Wegner in 1949 and still produced today in Carl Hansen's workshops in Denmark. Its most distinctive feature is the Y-shaped backrest that gives the chair its name, a single steam-bent piece of solid wood that curves from the top rail down into the seat frame, offering both visual lightness and genuine lumbar support. The chair is available in a range of solid hardwoods, including oak, beech, walnut, and cherry, each hand-selected and finished with either soap, oil, lacquer, or pigment to bring out the grain while protecting the surface for daily use at a dining table.

What sets this chair apart in construction is its hand-woven paper cord seat, a craft so specialized that each weaver trains for months before working on production chairs, using roughly 120 meters of cord per seat in a pattern that has remained unchanged since the design's inception. The cord is woven in a herringbone-style pattern across a solid wood seat frame, creating a surface that is surprisingly resilient, slightly yielding underfoot of pressure, and breathable for long seated periods, whether during a family dinner or extended hours of work at a kitchen table repurposed for other tasks. The legs are round and tapered, joined to the seat frame with traditional mortise-and-tenon joinery, a technique that has allowed many original Wishbone Chairs from the 1950s to remain in daily use today without structural failure.

As a dining chair, the CH24 is sized for comfortable use around standard dining and kitchen tables, with a seat height and depth calibrated for long sit-down meals rather than brief perching, and an open underside that keeps the dining area visually uncluttered despite its sturdy build. It pairs well with wood, marble, or glass-topped tables, and its neutral silhouette allows it to sit comfortably in both minimalist Scandinavian interiors and more eclectic dining rooms without competing for attention. Because every chair is still assembled and finished by hand in Carl Hansen & Son's Danish facilities, each one carries small natural variations in wood grain and cord tension, reinforcing its identity as a crafted object meant for everyday use at the dining table rather than a purely decorative piece.

What stands out

1. 01Hand-woven paper cord seat (approx. 120m of cord)
2. 02Steam-bent solid wood frame in FSC-certified beech, oak, or walnut
3. 03Iconic Y-shaped (wishbone) backrest designed by Hans J. Wegner
4. 04Hand-caned joinery with traditional mortise-and-tenon construction
5. 05Available in multiple wood finishes: soap treatment, oil, lacquer, or painted beech
6. 06Made in Denmark by skilled craftsmen

Specifications

Seat Material

Hand-woven paper cord

Frame Wood

Beech, Oak, or Walnut

Dimensions

53 x 51.5 x 74 cm (W x D x H)

Seat Height

45 cm

Weight

3.5 kg

Pros & cons