Provenance: Acquired by present owner's parents in 1968.

Model presented at the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers' Guild Exhibition at Designmuseum Danmark, 1952.

Literature: Grete Jalk [ed.]: “40 Years of Danish Furniture Design”, 1987, vol. 3, ill. pp. 212–213.

Three years after the presentation of The Chair, the expectations, in 1952, for Hans J. Wegner's and Johannes Hansen's stand, at the Copenhagen Cabinetmaker's Guild exhibition were high once again. One critic wrote: “...Every year, one is eagerly looking forward to Hans J. Wegner's pieces for Johannes Hansen”. The Cowhorn Chair did not disappoint: “Wegner has an extraordinary gift for giving his chairs distinctive forms.” Another critic in 1952 at the Guild exhibition wrote: “It was a relief to go through the stand by Hans J. Wegner for cabinetmaker Johannes Hansen.”

The Cowhorn Chair is another proof of Wegner's phrase: “Nothing is ever made that cannot be improved.” Three years after The Chair, which was praised as the most beautiful chair ever, Wegner exhibits the Cowhorn Chair which can be seen as a further development of The Chair. Wegner thus responds to Egill Snorasson's critique of the modern chair, which Snorasson thought lacked back support, by making a broader back on the Cowhorn Chair.