Eric Petit

With a vast inventory of beautiful furniture at 1stDibs, we’ve got just the eric petit you’re looking for. Each eric petit for sale was constructed with extraordinary care, often using wood, ash and hardwood. There are 3 variations of the antique or vintage eric petit you’re looking for, while we also have 144 modern editions of this piece to choose from as well. You’ve searched high and low for the perfect eric petit — we have versions that date back to the 18th Century alongside those produced as recently as the 21st Century are available. A eric petit made by Scandinavian Modern designers — as well as those associated with modern — is very popular.

A eric petit can differ in price owing to various characteristics — the average selling price 1stDibs is $2,956, while the lowest priced sells for $85 and the highest can go for as much as $45,000.

Éric Gizard, once described by renowned French interior designer Andrée Putman as “flamboyant and discreet, refined and reasonable,” is known for creating contemporary furniture that nods to the past.

Gizard studied at École Duperré in Paris from 1982 to ’84, before landing jobs as an archivist for B.E.D. Architects and Michel Boyer Architects. From the mid-1980s to 1990, he was in charge of the design column of CTY magazine. During this period, Gizard also worked as a freelance designer before establishing his own firm, EGA.

As the founder and director of EGA, Gizard spearheaded numerous interior design projects worldwide, including offices in Shanghai, tea rooms in Korea, apartments in Japan, boutiques in Paris and private residences and shops throughout Europe. 

In addition to his interiors, Gizard incorporated his characteristic lightness, fluidity and clarity into furniture and lighting designs. Strong contrasts, fusions of materials and colors and the use of chiaroscuro (contrasting light and shadow) feature in many of his sofas, canapes and sectionals. In Gizard’s handcrafted Bronze Sauvage table lamp, an apple-tree branch doubles as a tripod and sculptural art, while his side tables, sideboards, buffets, cabinets and coffee tables embrace the clean lines and bold symmetry of Scandinavian modernism. 

Gizard’s work has not gone unnoticed in the world of furniture design. In 2005, in association with Putman, Gizard was named designer of the year by Paris’s Maison and Objet fair. He has also collaborated extensively with brands including Hermès, Steiner, Salviati, Roche Bobois and Hennessy.

On 1stDibs, find a range of contemporary Éric Gizard tables, case pieces, storage cabinets and seating.

Scandinavian modernism is perhaps the warmest and most organic iteration of modernist design. The work of the designers associated with vintage Scandinavian modern furniture was founded on centuries-old beliefs in both quality craftsmanship and the ideal that beauty should enhance even the humblest accessories of daily life.

ORIGINS OF SCANDINAVIAN MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN 

• Emerged in the 1930s 
• Originated primarily in Denmark, Sweden and Finland
• Introduced in the United States in mid-20th century
• Informed by the Bauhaus and modernism; influenced American mid-century modernism  

CHARACTERISTICS OF SCANDINAVIAN MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN

• Bold, clean lines and simple, sturdy symmetries
• Use of natural materials — native woods such as pine, ash and beech
• Open, airy spaces
• Promotion of functionality
• Emphasis on craftsmanship; rooted in cabinetry profession and traditional construction techniques
• Minimal ornamentation (little to no embellishment)
• A neutral or light color palette owing to prominence of light woods

SCANDINAVIAN MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW

• Alvar Aalto
• Hans Wegner
• Kaare Klint
• Arne Jacobsen
• Greta Magnusson Grossman 
• Finn Juhl
• Arne Vodder
• Verner Panton

ICONIC SCANDINAVIAN MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNS

• Ant chair
• Grasshopper table lamp
• Wishbone chair
• Stool 60
• Artichoke lamp

VINTAGE SCANDINAVIAN MODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS

The gentle, organic contours that are typical of Scandinavian design appear in the furnishings and decor created by Danish, Finnish and Swedish designers not as a stylistic gesture, but rather as a practical, ergonomic — and, as importantly, elegant — response to the human form.

Each nation produced exceptional talents in all areas of the applied arts, yet each had its forté. Sweden was home to Greta Magnusson Grossman and Bruno Mathsson — creators of the classic Grasshopper lighting series and Berlin daybed, respectively — but the country excelled most notably at ceramics. In the 1920s at the great Gustavsberg porcelain manufactory, Wilhelm Kåge introduced pieces in the Scandinavian style based on influences from folklore to Cubism; his skills were passed on to his versatile and inspired pupils Berndt Friberg and Stig Lindberg.

Likewise, Finland produced a truly ingenious Scandinavian modern furniture designer in the architect Alvar Aalto, a master at melding function and artistic form in works like the Paimio chair, created in collaboration with his first wife, Aino. Yet Finnish glassware was pre-eminent, crafted in expressive, sculptural designs by Tapio Wirkkala and Timo Sarpaneva.

The Danes excelled at chairs. Hans Wegner and Arne Jacobsen were exemplars of the country’s facility with wood, particularly teak. 

Wegner created such iconic pieces as the Round chair and the Wishbone chair; Jacobsen — while the revolutionary architect and furniture innovator produced the best-selling plywood Ant chair — designed two classic upholstered pieces of the 1950s: the Swan chair and Egg chair. The list of great Danes could go on and on, including Finn Juhl, a stylistic maverick and maker of the bold Chieftain chair; Poul Kjaerholm, with his lean metal-and-rattan aesthetic; and Verner Panton, who introduced a vibrant Pop note into international design.

Today, decades after their heyday, the prolific, ever-evolving Scandinavian modernists continue to amaze and delight, and interior designers all over the world use their pieces to bring warmth to any given space.

On 1stDibs, you will note both instantly recognizable vintage Scandinavian modern chairs, sofas, rugs and tables — those that have earned iconic status over time — and many new discoveries.