Need to know: Wishbone Chair

If you're looking for dining room or kitchen chairs with a timeless appeal that will go on for generations you couldn't do better than the Wishbone Chair. Designed by Hans J. Wegner for Hansen & Søn in 1949, the chair has been in continuous production since 1950. The Danish architect is considered to be one of the pioneering furniture designers of the 20th Century and, as a driving force behind the 'Danish Modern' movement, he helped change the general public's view of furniture in the 1950s and 1960s.

The Wishbone Chair is probably Wegner's most celebrated work. It is a light, attractive and comfortable dining chair with a characteristic Y-shaped back and simple, clean lines. Despite the chair's straightforward appearance it takes more than 100 steps to make one. Amongst other things, the hand-woven seat consists of more than 120 metres of paper cord.

Wishbone chairs have been mass made by many replica furniture companies, but due to changes in UK Copyright laws it will no longer be possible to buy cheap copies, meaning that a genuine Wishbone Chair will doubtless be inbued with a sense of heritage and craftmanship, and well worth keeping for generations to come.

Here are some fabulous ideas for styling with Wishbone Chairs...

Combined with benches, this Wishbone Chair sits happily in an informal dining arrangement.

A blue Wishbone Chair acts as a perfect mid century foil to this crisp white modern desk.

Equally at home in a rather more formal setting, this chair has been combined with classic antiques.

A pale green Wishbone Chair doubles up as a bedside table.

Perfect for modern dining en mass, these chairs bring a warm woody feel to a bright white interior.

Demonstrating once again tremendous versatility, these Wishbone Chairs sit in a traditional farmhouse environment, at home with a raw-edged wood table.