Author: Learn Antiques Team

BICYCLES: Rolling Through History

We all grew up with at least one bike in the household. Bicycles are still the purest form of mechanical transportation for whatever reason we use them. The huge popularity of cycling spurred multiple designers and hundreds of manufacturers to give birth to the “Safety Bicycle” that still is the foundation of bike design today. By the late 1870s, bicycles were being imported to Australia. Bikes remained expensive though and a handful of brave entrepreneurs had started manufacturing in Australia. As with anything you collect, the interest comes from association with it. Some collect just to show off the bikes, some collect to ride them and many do both.

HANS J. WEGNER: The Chair Maker of All Chair Makers

Hans J. Wegner was one of the most ingenious and prolific furniture designers of his time. He was the brain behind the Danish Modern and second to none in chair-making. His maiden designs got the attention of his people around the time he finished his cabinet-making apprenticeship. Wegner relocated to Copenhagen, where he enrolled in the School of Arts and Crafts before embarking on his architect career. A few years later, the maiden edition of China Chair was designed, one of which was adjudged the most successful design of all time. Today, all the major design museums in the world have Hans J. Wegner’s furniture in their collections.