Fritz Hansen Oxford Desk Chair Designed by Arne Jacobsen, 1963 Denmark
About the Item
- Creator:Fritz Hansen (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 35.04 in (89 cm)Width: 18.51 in (47 cm)Depth: 18.12 in (46 cm)Seat Height: 18.51 in (47 cm)
- Style:Scandinavian Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1963
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Antwerp, BE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU931819894822
Fritz Hansen
When the Copenhagen-based furniture maker Fritz Hansen opened for business more than 140 years ago, the company — which today styles itself The Republic of Fritz Hansen — adhered to the traditional, time-honored Danish values of craftsmanship in woodworking and joinery. Yet thanks to the postwar innovations of Arne Jacobsen and others, Fritz Hansen would become the country’s leader in Scandinavian modern design using new, forward-looking materials and methods.
Fritz Hansen started his company in 1872, specializing in the manufacture of small furniture parts. In 1915, the firm became the first in Denmark to make chairs using steam-bent wood (a technique most familiar from birch used in the ubiquitous café chairs by Austrian maker Thonet). At the time, Fritz Hansen was best known for seating that featured curved legs and curlicue splats and referenced 18th-century Chippendale designs.
In the next few decades, the company promoted simple, plain chairs with slatted backs and cane or rush seats designed by such proto-modernist masters as Kaare Klint and Søren Hansen. Still, the most aesthetically striking piece Fritz Hansen produced in the first half of the 20th century was arguably the China chair of 1944 by Hans Wegner — and that piece, with its yoke-shaped bentwood back- and armrest, was based on seating manufactured in China during the Ming dynasty. (Wegner was moved by portraits he’d seen of Danish merchants in the Chinese chairs.)
Everything changed in 1952 with Arne Jacobsen’s Ant chair. The collaboration between the architect and Fritz Hansen officially originated in 1934 — that year, Jacobsen created his inaugural piece for the manufacturer, the solid beechwood Bellevue chair for a restaurant commission. The Ant chair, however, was the breakthrough.
With assistance from his then-apprentice Verner Panton, Jacobsen designed the Ant chair for the cafeteria of a Danish healthcare company called Novo Nordisk. The chair was composed of a seat and backrest formed from a single piece of molded plywood attached, in its original iteration, to three tubular metal legs. Its silhouette suggests the shape of the insect’s body, and the lightweight, stackable chair and its biomorphic form became an international hit.
Jacobsen followed with more plywood successes, such as the Grand Prix chair of 1957. The following year he designed the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen and its furnishings, including the Egg chair and the Swan chair. Those two upholstered pieces, with their lush, organic frames made of fiberglass-reinforced polyurethane, have become the two chairs most emblematic of mid-20th-century cool. Moreover, the Egg and Swan led Fritz Hansen to fully embrace new man-made materials, like foam, plastic and steel wire used to realize the avant-garde creations of later generations of designers with whom the firm collaborated, such as Piet Hein, Jørn Utzon (the architect of the Sydney Opera House) and Verner Panton. If the Fritz Hansen of 1872 would not now recognize his company, today’s connoisseurs certainly do.
Find a collection of vintage Fritz Hansen tables, lounge chairs, sofas and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Antwerp, Belgium
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Fritz Hansen Round Coffee Table designed by Arne JacobsenBy Arne Jacobsen, Fritz HansenLocated in Antwerp, BECircular Coffee Table. Design about 1968. Tripod base in aluminium, top in teak wood. Dimensions H.47 x W.110 cm. Marked with 'Danish Furniture Controll' label.Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsTeak
- Knoll Arm Desk, Conference Chair Designed by Eero SaarinenBy Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Antwerp, BEThe Knoll international Saarinen conference armchair in license with the De Coene manufacturer Belgium is a design by Eero Saarinen.Featur...Category
Vintage 1960s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsMetal
- Spage Age Smoked Plexi Glass Swivel Desk Chair, 1960sLocated in Antwerp, BEA beautiful vintage modern smoked lucite desk arm chair and a swivel base. The thick padded seating covered in white leather and sculpted design add to the Midcentury Spage age...Category
Vintage 1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Swivel Chairs
MaterialsChrome
- Set of Four Dining Chairs Designed by Arne Hovmand Olsen for Mogens KoldBy Arne Hovmand-Olsen, Mogens Kold MøbelfabrikLocated in Antwerp, BEVintage rare set of four dining-room chairs, designed by Arne Hovmand Olsen for Mogens Kold Mobelfabrik, Denmark.The chairs are organic in their shape the rounded, almost branch like...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsTeak, Plywood
- Ellipse Coffee Table by Piet Hein & Bruno Mathsson for Fritz Hansen, 1990By Bruno Mathsson, Piet Hein, Fritz HansenLocated in Antwerp, BECoffee table designed by Piet Hein & Bruno Mathsson and produced by Fritz Hansen made in Denmark in 1990. This example of the Super-Elliptical with a beautiful top made of walnut wi...Category
1990s Danish Scandinavian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBeech
- Set of Six Dining Chairs "Model EVA" by Niels Kofoed, Denmark, 1960sBy Hornslet Møbelfabrik, Niels KoefoedLocated in Antwerp, BEBeautiful set of six teak side chairs, model EVA designed by Niels Kofoed and manufactured by Hornslet Møbelfabrik, Denmark. Vintage comfortable wooden dining chair set in original p...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsVelvet, Wood
- Oxford Desk Chair by Arne Jacobsen for Fritz HansenBy Fritz Hansen, Arne JacobsenLocated in Sagaponack, NYAn "Oxford" arm chair in white leather upholstery with a high back and a cast aluminum 5 point base with casters. Height adjustable +/- 5".Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Pair of Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen Set 'Oxford' ChairsBy Arne Jacobsen, Fritz HansenLocated in Waalwijk, NLArne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen, set of eight 'Oxford' chairs, metal, yellow fabric, Denmark, design 1965. These classic executive office chairs feature a medium high back (as oppo...Category
Early 2000s Danish Scandinavian Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Arne Jacobsen Oxford Chairs Model 3272 by Fritz Hansen in DenmarkBy Arne JacobsenLocated in Limhamn, Skåne länRare set of Oxford high backed chairs model 3272 designed by Arne Jacobsen. Produced by Fritz Hansen in Denmark.Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsSteel
- Armchair “Egg Chair” Designed by Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen, Denmark, 1958By Arne Jacobsen, Fritz HansenLocated in Stockholm, SEArmchair “Egg chair” designed by Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen, Denmark. 1958. Original leather and aluminium. Very early model with the built up seat, without separate cushion. ...Category
Vintage 1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Swivel Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Set of 4 'Oxford' Swivel Chairs by Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen, 1965By Arne Jacobsen, Fritz HansenLocated in Antwerpen, VANNice set of 4 ‘Oxford’ swivel chairs designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1965 for the professors of St-Catherine’s college in Oxford. These examples are...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Swivel Chairs
MaterialsMetal, Aluminum
- First Edition Arne Jacobsen 3117 Desk Swivel Chair by Fritz HansenBy Arne Jacobsen, Fritz HansenLocated in Utrecht, NLArne Jacobsen swivel desk chair model 3117 office chair. Original, first series four-star swivel base with chromed steel feet on casters. Designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1955. The chair has a new handstitched upholstery exactly like the original. This unique craftsmanship detail is an important feature of the original design and is rarely found on re-upholstered AJ chairs...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
MaterialsSteel