Trinidad Dining Chairs

Nanna Ditzel was the most versatile and creative female designer that Denmark produced in the 20th century. Ditzel brought her talents to bear on a staggering array of forms — she designed furniture, jewelry, tableware and textiles; and she shaped her pieces using an equally astonishing variety of materials, from wood and wicker to silver, ceramics and fiberglass.

Born in Copenhagen, she trained as a cabinetmaker at the Royal Academy's furniture school — overseen by the great craftsman of the day, Kaare Klint — and graduated in 1943. Ditzel’s early work adhered to the classic Danish modernist tenets of simplicity, comfort and quality, and her armchairs, with their softly curved backrests are much in the spirit of Hans Wegner. Ditzel’s signature piece of that time is her Ring chair. Designed along with her husband, Jørgen Ditzel, a fabric maker, the chair has a semicircular padded armrest that seems to embrace the sitter. Ditzel began designing in wicker and in 1959 produced the Hanging chair. The piece, suspended from the ceiling by a chain, became a favorite for fashion shoots and may be as iconic of the 1960s as Eero Aarnio’s plastic Ball chair of 1963.

In 1956, Ditzel began designing for the Danish silverware firm Georg Jensen. In an association that lasted some 40 years, Ditzel would create organically shaped jewelry, barware, ceramic tableware and even tablecloths. Like her fellow Dane Verner Panton, Ditzel was not afraid to embrace industrial materials, and she began designing fiberglass chairs in the mid-1960s. Some of her most flamboyant work came toward the end of her career, in pieces such as 1989’s Bench for Two, with its shocking Op-art finish, or the Trinidad chair of 1992, with it’s sunburst-like, cut-though backs. Such feats of creativity were a fitting coda to one of the most imaginative, prolific and remarkable women of modern design.

No matter what your dream dining experience looks like, there is a wide-ranging variety of vintage, new and antique dining room chairs on 1stDibs. Find upholstered dining room chairs, wood dining room chairs and more to outfit any space designated for a good meal, be it in your home or in the great outdoors.

In the early 18th century, most dining room tables and other furniture was designed to look masculine. In America, dining rooms weren’t even much of a concept until the late 1700s, when a space set aside specifically for dining became a part of the construction of homes for the wealthy. Dining room chairs of the era were likely made of walnut or oak. In Europe, neoclassical dining chairs emerged during the 1750s owing to nostalgia for classical antiquity, while the curving chair crests of Queen Anne furniture in the United States preceded the artistically bold seat backs that characterized the Chippendale chairs that followed. If there weren't enough dining chairs at suppertime in the American colonies, men were prioritized and women stood.

In the dining rooms of today, however, there is enough space for everyone to have a seat at the table. Modern styles introduce innovative design choices that play with shape and style. Icons of mid-century modern dining room chairs are plentiful: With its distinctive bentwood back, there is the DCW dining chair by Charles and Ray Eames, while Hans Wegner's timeless classic, the Wishbone chair, remains relevant and elegant decades after its debut. Stefano Giovannoni's White Rabbit dining chairs, in their lovable polyethylene biomorphism, reinvent what dining can look like.

Today's wide range of dining room chairs also means that they can now be styled in different ways, bringing functionality and fun to any sumptuous dining space. No longer do tables have to be accompanied by a matching set of seats. Skillfully mixing and matching colors and designs allows you to showcase your personality without sacrificing the cohesion of a given space.

By furnishing your dining room with cozy chairs — vintage, antique or otherwise — family time can extend far beyond mealtime. The plush upholstery of Victorian-style dining room chairs is perfect for game nights that stretch from dinner to midnight snack. Outdoor tables and dining chairs can also present an excellent opportunity for bonding and eating — what goes better with a delicious meal than fresh air, anyway?

Whether you prefer your chairs streamlined and stackable or ornate and one of a kind, the offerings on 1stDibs will elevate your mealtime and beyond.