About
Lifespan: 1903–1985
Birthplace: Frederiksberg, Denmark
Manufacturers: A.J. Iversen, P. Jeppesen, France & Daverkosen / France & Søn, Carl Hansen & Søn, and others
Story
Ole Wanscher (1903–1985) worked as a furniture designer, architect, educator, and historian of furniture. He was born in Frederiksberg to art historian Vilhelm Wanscher and painter Laura Baagøe Zeuthen. Growing up in his father’s scholarly environment fostered a lasting interest in art history and encouraged him to view furniture not only as contemporary form but as part of a long historical continuum.
After technical schooling and study at the Royal Danish Academy’s School of Architecture, Wanscher worked in Kaare Klint’s office from 1925 to 1927. From Klint he learned to measure and analyze historic furniture, work with human dimensions, organize furniture around use, and treat material and structure rationally. He established an independent practice in the late 1920s with furniture design at its center.
Wanscher studied furniture from ancient Egypt, Greece, China, eighteenth-century Britain, and many other periods and cultures, translating structural principles from the past into modern furniture. Rather than quoting historical styles decoratively, he reorganized the relationships between legs, stretchers, seat, and back, creating light furniture with slender members and clearly expressed structure. The Colonial Chair and Egyptian Stool demonstrate the close link between his historical research and design practice.
From the 1930s he maintained a long collaboration with cabinetmaker A.J. Iversen, presenting furniture at the Cabinetmakers’ Guild exhibitions. Fine woods such as rosewood and mahogany were combined with slim frames, precise joinery, leather, and cane. After the war, collaborations with manufacturers including P. Jeppesen translated the principles of cabinetmade furniture into high-quality serial production.
Teaching and writing formed an equally important part of Wanscher’s career. He taught furniture drawing at Kunsthåndværkerskolen from 1931 to 1936 and in 1955 succeeded Klint as professor at the Royal Danish Academy, remaining there until 1973. Books including Møbeltyper (1932), Møbelkunstens Historie i Oversigt (1941), and Møblets æstetik (1985) continued his effort to connect furniture history with design. His integration of design, making, teaching, and historical study is fundamental to understanding his work.
History & Works
1903 (0 years old)
Born on 16 September in Frederiksberg. His father was art historian Vilhelm Wanscher and his mother painter Laura Baagøe Zeuthen.
1924 (21 years old)
Participated in measured surveys and research at Vitskøl Kloster for the National Museum of Denmark, while also studying at the Royal Danish Academy’s School of Architecture.
1925–1927
Worked in Kaare Klint’s office, learning the study of historical furniture, dimensional analysis, and methods of furniture design.
Late 1920s
Opened an independent office specializing in furniture design.
1931–1936
Taught furniture drawing at Kunsthåndværkerskolen.
1932 (29 years old)
Published Møbeltyper, a study of furniture types.
1930s–1940s
Continued his collaboration with cabinetmaker A.J. Iversen, designing numerous cabinetmade pieces and applying research into ancient, British, and Asian furniture.
1941 (38 years old)
Published Møbelkunstens Historie i Oversigt, a systematic overview of furniture history.
1949 (46 years old)
Designed the Colonial Chair, whose slender wooden frame and combination of leather and cane reveal the influence of historical furniture study.
1950s
Expanded collaboration with P. Jeppesen, translating the structure and material discipline of cabinetmade furniture into high-quality production. He also designed for France & Daverkosen.
1955 (52 years old)
Succeeded Kaare Klint as professor at the Royal Danish Academy, teaching furniture and interior design.
1960 (57 years old)
Received a gold medal at the Milan Triennale. The Egyptian Stool, based on the study of ancient folding seats, is among the characteristic works of this period.
1973 (70 years old)
Retired from his professorship at the Royal Danish Academy.
1980 (age 77)
Published Sella curulis: The Folding Stool, an Ancient Symbol of Dignity, a cultural history of the folding stool.
1985 (age 82)
Published Møblets æstetik. He died on 27 December in Charlottenlund.
Furniture
Dining Chair
FD107 Chair
FD108 Rocking Chair
FD109 Easy Chair
FD109/2 Sofa
FD110 Rocking Chair
FD166 Senator Chair
FD166 Senator Chair
FD166/3 Senator Sofa
FD167 High-back Chair
FD167 Senator Rocking Chair
OW2000 Egyptian Stool
PJ-149 Colonial Chair
References
Dansk Biografisk Leksikon / Lex, “Ole Wanscher.”
Weilbachs Kunstnerleksikon / Lex, “Ole Wanscher.”
Carl Hansen & Søn, Ole Wanscher designer profile and product archive.
Ole Wanscher, Møbeltyper, 1932.
Ole Wanscher, Møbelkunstens Historie i Oversigt, 1941.
Ole Wanscher, Sella curulis: The Folding Stool, an Ancient Symbol of Dignity, 1980.
Ole Wanscher, Møblets æstetik, 1985.