High and Low: Wishbone Chair

We've long been fans of Hans Wegner's Wishbone chairs. A classic, they are one of the pieces that is warm and a bit rustic, yet still reads as modern. But, as you may already be aware of, they are NOT inexpensive. We saw a similarly styled chair today for less than half the price of even the least expensive Wegner...jump below for info:

Pottery Barn's Emerson Chair is $289 for the armchair and $249 for the side chair, while the Wegner starts at $599 (for black) and ranges to $835 (for Oak). The Pottery Barn chairs are made from Mahogany and rattan in a "Sandrift Gray" finish and the Wegner at Room and Board is made from Oak with papercord.

What do you think? A reasonable substitute for a similar look on a budget or too far off the mark?

Comments (8)

yuk. too far off the mark. looks dumpy. save up, search for a used deal, or just get a better knock off.

posted by amt230 on July 30th 2008 at 9:12am
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I like it, but I don't like the finish color in this case. Would like it better in white or walnut or ebony.

Also, the chair on the left (in the right photo) looks like a different chair than its companion on the right. I agree that the left chair is dumpy.

posted by kimg924 on July 30th 2008 at 9:22am
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Not only is it a bad copy, but this was already covered weeks ago.

posted by bepsf on July 30th 2008 at 9:26am
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bepsf, each AT city sometimes covers items already posted under another city -- it's assumed that not all readers read the whole blog (though I'm not sure why!)

posted by kimg924 on July 30th 2008 at 9:58am
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apologies for the repeat - i've included the link to the previous mention of the chair in Aaron's post, which also shows a few other Wishbone-like options

posted by janel on July 30th 2008 at 10:14am
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The best part is PB's hilarious justification:

"Reinventing the look of classic Chippendale style, an aesthetic that was originally inspired by ancient Chinese design."

Meaning: we didn't rip Wegner off!

Thanks for including the previous post. I think most people glance at the various cities, and repeating posts seems sort of slack. (But now we know why.)

posted by Palmetto on July 30th 2008 at 10:31am
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Here's an even better substitute --especially if you buy before the scheduled price increase. These are a steal at $189. Was thinking of getting a set myself...

http://stores.advancedinteriordesigns.com/-strse-610/wishbone-chair%2C-wagner-wishbone/Detail.bok

posted by tess on July 30th 2008 at 11:36am
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"Meaning: we didn't rip Wegner off!"

Meaning Wegner ripped off a classic Chippendale style...

posted by quiltmaster on April 28th 2009 at 7:10pm
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