Design story
Hans Wegner designed the GE460 Butterfly Chair for Getama in 1977.
The chair is named after a butterfly as it is like a butterfly sitting ready to take off.
It was created and first shown in 1977, but was ahead of its time in terms of design. The design is sculptural with a clear division into the supporting – the massive frame – and the supported – the shells.
Hans J. Wegner is considered one of Scandinavia’s most important artists and designers. His furniture designs in the 1940s and 1950s were ground breaking for Danish design. After completing an apprenticeship as a carpenter, Hans Wegner first attended the arts and crafts school in Copenhagen in the 1930s and then worked in Arne Jacobsen’s studio. In 1946, Hans Wegner founded his own studio and worked for manufacturers such as Johannes Hansen, Fritz Hansen, Carl Hansen and Getama.
Getama is one of Denmark’s oldest furniture factories, but the precise story of it’s origins is unclear. In the 1880s, a young cabinetmaker named Carl Petersen opened a workshop in the small town Gedsted. According to legend, he was eager to explore a variety of business opportunities, and in 1899, he started producing seaweed mattresses in partnership with upholsterer P. Thorup. Tey named the company Gjedsted Tang Madratsfabrik, and it quickly found success across Denmark with its high quality, competitively priced merchandise.
