Hans J. Wegner is one of the leading representatives of traditional Danish furniture design. His work has a sound basis, namely a thorough training as a carpenter, and is rooted in a family tradition of craftsmen. He had already learned how to handle shapes and tools in his father's shoe-making shop. During his studies in Copenhagen he became familiar with masters of the Danish art of furniture-making. Wegner takes ideas from artistic joinery the world over and makes them specifically Danish.

The models for his Y Chair stem from China. The Y that is the backrest resembles the natural forking of a branch. The plaited seat is a reference to the grass along the shallow shores of the Danish landscape, and is in the tradition of northwest European utilitarian chairs.