Iconic Designs
Panton Chair
About the Design
Appearing as if it were a three-dimensional brushstroke of paint, the S-shaped Panton chair is just one curved piece of plastic that cantilevers over itself to form a seat. Prior to its development by experimental Danish designer Verner Panton (1926–98), no chair had ever been crafted from a single piece of molded plastic.
“I want to design furniture that grows up out of the floor,” Panton said of his work. “To turn the furniture into something organic, which never has four legs.” The designer, who studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen before working for Arne Jacobsen’s architecture firm, started experimenting with the concept of single-piece plastic chairs in the late 1950s, drafting sketches of what eventually became his signature eponymous work before creating a full-scale polystyrene model. But he ran into production trouble — no manufacturer would tackle the chair’s challenging engineering problems. Plastic was still a relatively new invention at the time, having been introduced to mass markets in the postwar era when most furniture makers still preferred to work in wood.
Enter Swiss furniture company Vitra, which agreed to take on the project in 1963.
It took four years — and ten prototypes — but Vitra and Panton were ultimately successful, creating a Panton chair made from fiberglass-reinforced polyester. It debuted in Danish design magazine Mobilia in 1967 and then at the 1968 Cologne Furniture Fair. The chair embodied a seductive combination of the era’s popular Space Age and Pop art aesthetics through its undulating form, futuristic material and punchy colors, resulting in mass demand for the relatively affordable piece of furniture. While it was discontinued in 1979 due to durability issues, the chair was reintroduced years later and Vitra has continued to manufacture it, experimenting with materials ranging from polyurethane foam to polypropylene in conjunction with Panton throughout the course of his lifetime. For the chair’s 50th anniversary, Vitra produced limited-edition chrome and glow-in-the-dark models.
The chair has become a celebrity in itself: It was featured on the cover of British Vogue in 1995 — with a nude Kate Moss atop it — and in 2006, it was inducted into the Danish Culture Canon. Numerous design museums hold the chair in their collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Design Museum in London and more. As far as chairs go, particularly those designed during the 1960s and 1970s, there are few better known and more beloved than the Panton.
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Lot de 8 chaises Verner Panton pour Vitra
By Verner Panton, Vitra
Located in Busserolles, FR
Lot de 8 chaises blanches par Verner Panton, édition Vitra. Le classique du design des années 1960 de Verner Panton, fabriqué par Vitra, est doté d'une structure d'aspect futuriste. ...
Category
Vintage 1960s European Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs
Materials
Plastic
Set of 8 Chairs by Verner Panton for Herman Miller 1971
By Verner Panton, Herman Miller
Located in Conversano, IT
Exceptional and rare set of 8 "Panton S Chairs" designed by Verner Panton and manufactured by Herman Miller, authentic 1971.
These chairs represent a timeless icon in the design worl...
Category
Vintage 1970s American Space Age Dining Room Chairs
Materials
Plastic
MCM Panton Junior PAIR of Kids Chairs by Verner Panton Vitra, Turquoise + Orange
By Vitra, Verner Panton
Located in Basel, BS
FREE fast shipping.
Panton Junior Chairs, Pair-- in Turquoise and Orange-- Rare colors, no longer produced.
Verner Panton, 1959/2006
The Panton J...
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Early 2000s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Materials
Plastic
Side Chair by Verner Panton for Herman Miller - Felhbaum, 1971
By Verner Panton, Herman Miller
Located in Barcelona, ES
Side chair designed by Verner Panton in 1967 for Herman Miller - Fehlbaum production, Germany. This one is stamped in 1971 in black glossy thermoplastic.
Category
Vintage 1970s German Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Materials
Plastic
Panton Chair by Verner Panton for Herman Miller / Fehlbaum, in white 1976
By Verner Panton, Herman Miller
Located in Halle, DE
Panton S-Chair, designed by Verner Panton for Hermann Miller / Fehlbaum. Color: white. The chair is from the 2nd production run from 1970 onwards in thermoplastic luran-s with reinfo...
Category
Vintage 1970s German Space Age Chairs
Materials
Plastic
Panton Chair by Verner Panton for Herman Miller / Fehlbaum, in white 1976
By Verner Panton, Herman Miller
Located in Halle, DE
Panton S-Chair, designed by Verner Panton for Hermann Miller / Fehlbaum. Color: white. The chair is from the 2nd production run from 1970 onwards in thermoplastic luran-s with reinfo...
Category
Vintage 1970s German Space Age Chairs
Materials
Plastic
Verner Panton Two Cantilevered Chairs by Vitra Herman Miller Edition
By Verner Panton, Vitra
Located in Miami, FL
Timeless cantilevered side chairs designed by Verner Panton in 1959. High-quality design made of fiberglass. Unique, retouched condition.
Our pair of Panton cantilevered chairs are a stunning golden yellow, original color was blue, see detailed photographs. We have paired them with a stylish Postmodern Circular James Turco Designed Milano Memphis painted and lacquered side table, sold separately.
This Pair of Verner Panton Cantilevered Chairs Quality Features:
Accomplished design: perfect proportions and visible attention to detail
high-quality workmanship using high quality materials.
Made in Denmark, Bears the makers mark.
Design: Verner Panton, manufacturer: Vitra / Herman Miller Collection
Measures: 24 3/4" Deep x 19 1/2" Wide x 32 1/4" High
About the Designer and Chair Model:
From the early 1950s, Panton had dreamt of making a stackable, cantilevered chair all in one piece. In 1956, he designed the S chair which can be considered a forerunner of the Panton chair. He saw it as an item of furniture in which the back, seat and legs were made of the same material and in one continuous piece. It was first produced in 1965.
Panton made a series of sketches and design drawings for the Panton chair in the 1950s. In 1960, he created his first model, a plaster-cast, in collaboration with Dansk Akrylteknik. In the mid-1960s, he met Willi Fehlbaum, who, unlike many other producers, was fascinated with the drawings of his legless chair in plastic rather than wood, the favoured material of the times. Working closely with Fehlbaum, Panton produced a cold-pressed model using polyester strengthened with fibreglass. For the first time, an entire chair had been designed in one piece, without any legs. It became known as a free-swinger. The first rather heavy model, which required substantial finishing work, was subsequently improved and adapted to industrial production using thermoplastic polystyrene which led to a marked reduction in cost.
In 1968, Fehlbaum, from Vitra, initiated serial production of the final version which was sold by the Herman Miller Furniture Company. It was varnished in seven colors.
In 1979, however, production was halted as it became apparent that the material polystyrene was not sufficiently durable. Four years later, the model was again produced as the Panton chair Classic, this time in the rather more expensive material. Finally, in 1999, Vitra used...
Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
Materials
Fiberglass
Verner Panton Side / Dining Chairs for Herman Miller, Modernist, 1970's
By Verner Panton
Located in London, GB
1970's white Panton chairs designed by Verner Panton for Herman Miller.
These iconic chairs are made of moulded white plastic in cantilever form, g...
Category
Vintage 1970s Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Materials
Plastic
Supreme x Vitra Panton Mid-Century Modern "S Chair" in Glossy Red with Logo
By Supreme, Vitra, Verner Panton
Located in Englewood, NJ
A collaboration between supreme x Vitra Panton for Supreme's Spring Season 21' of the iconic "S Chair" designed by famed Danish designer Verner Panton which dates back to 1959 when i...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Side Chairs
Materials
Acrylic
White Panton Chair by Verner Panton for Vitra with Side Stool
By Vitra, Verner Panton
Located in Pasadena, TX
White Panton chair by Verner Panton for Vitra with Side Stool
Captivated by the potential of plastic, Danish designer Verner Panton created the f...
Category
Late 20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
Materials
Plastic
Verner Panton for Vitra Glow Panton Chair, Luminescent, White, Blue, Limited Ed
By Vitra, Verner Panton
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Verner Panton for Vitra Glow Panton chair, Luminescent, white, limited edition, on occasion of 50th anniversary. 1000 luminescent produced.
After several years of joint development by Verner Panton and Vitra, the Panton chair was finally ready for production in 1967 – as the first all-plastic cantilever chair to be manufactured in one piece. Created with a revolutionary production technique, the chair’s unique sculptural design was presented to the public for the first time at the imm Furniture Fair in Cologne in 1968. It rapidly came to symbolise an entire era. In 2018, 50 years after its launch, Vitra is issuing two limited editions of this iconic classic: Panton Chrome and Panton Glow. Vitra limited production of the “Glow” to 333 chairs which were sold in June 2018, the 50th anniversary of the first presentation of the chair to the public.
Verner Panton showed an ardent interest in innovative technologies, techniques and materials over the course of his lifetime. He worked with lighting, colour and luminous elements in many of his futuristic interiors.
For his legendary 1970 installation ‘Visiona 2...
Category
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
Materials
Plastic
Verner Panton "Panton Chair" Original Edition Herman Miller circa 1960
By Herman Miller, Verner Panton
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Verner Panton "Panton chair" original edition Herman Miller in enamelled fiberglass circa 1960
wear and minor losses.
Category
Vintage 1960s North American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Materials
Fiberglass
Panton Chair
By Verner Panton
Located in Highland, IN
The Panton chair is an important icon of modern design and has a fascinating history as Verner Panton experimented with a variety of materials to best realize the design. The most co...
Category
Late 20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Materials
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Verner Panton "Panton Chair" 6 Original Chairs Edition Herman Miller circa 1960
By Herman Miller, Verner Panton
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Verner Panton "Panton chair" 6 original chairs edition Herman Miller in enamelled fiberglass circa 1960
repainted a few years ago.
original color: white
wear and minor losses.
Category
Vintage 1960s North American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Materials
Fiberglass
Set 6 chairs Verner Panton from 1970
By Rolf Fehlbaum, Verner Panton
Located in Perpignan, FR
Rare set de 6 chaises Verner Panton datant des années 70. Edition Fehlbaum
Couleur violet / rare dans cette teinte.
Chaises signées sous l'assise .
En tres bon état general . Aucu...
Category
Vintage 1970s French Space Age Chairs
Materials
Plastic
Pair of Panton Chairs by Verner Panton for Fehlbaum / Herman Miller 1976
By Herman Miller, Rolf Fehlbaum, Verner Panton
Located in Halle, DE
Set (2) Panton s-chairs, designed by Verner Panton for Hermann Miller / Fehlbaum. Color: white. The chairs are from the 2nd production run from 1970 onwards in thermoplastic luran-s ...
Category
Vintage 1970s German Space Age Chairs
Materials
Plastic
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Appearing as if it were a three-dimensional brushstroke of paint, the S-shaped Panton chair is just one curved piece of plastic that cantilevers over itself to form a seat. Prior to its development by experimental Danish designer Verner Panton (1926–98), no chair had ever been crafted from a single piece of molded plastic.
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