Pair of Joe Colombo Chairs
By Joe Colombo
Located in New York, NY
Modern pair of green plastic chairs by Italian designer Joe Colombo. These chairs, although they
Vintage 1960s Italian Chairs
Plastic
Pair of Joe Colombo Chairs
By Joe Colombo
Located in New York, NY
Modern pair of green plastic chairs by Italian designer Joe Colombo. These chairs, although they
Plastic
Unavailable
H 27.17 in W 30.71 in D 51.19 in
Joe Colombo Additional System Lounge Chair and Ottoman for Sormani, Italy, 1970
By Joe Colombo
Located in Padova, IT
Joe Colombo's innovative Additional-System lounge chair with ottoman utilizes various sized
Aluminum
Unavailable
H 19.3 in Dm 19.3 in
Green Tube Chair Designed by Joe Colombo Produced by Flexform in 1969
By Flexform, Joe Colombo
Located in Paris, FR
The famous Tube chair has been designed by Joe Colombo and produced by Flexform from1969 to 1976
PVC
Sold
H 37.8 in W 39.38 in D 37.41 in
Joe Colombo Mid-Century Modern Green Velvet "Elda" Italian Lounge Chair
By Joe Colombo
Located in Madrid, ES
Lounge chair model "Elda" designed by Joe Colombo (1930-1971) in 1963. Made of white fiberglass
Fabric, Fiberglass
Sold
H 28.35 in W 17.33 in D 19.89 in
Joe Colombo Set of Six Universale Green Chairs by Kartell, 1960s
By Joe Colombo, Kartell
Located in Cascina, Pisa
Set of six Universale chairs in green plastic, designed by Joe Colombo and produced by Kartell in
Plastic
Sold
H 28.35 in W 17.33 in D 19.89 in
Joe Colombo Set of Six Universale Green Chairs by Kartell, 1960s
By Joe Colombo, Kartell
Located in Cascina, Pisa
Set of six Universale chairs in green plastic, designed by Joe Colombo and produced by Kartell in
Plastic
Joe Colombo '300' Dining Chairs in Moss Green Upholstery
By Pozzi, Joe Colombo
Located in Waalwijk, NL
Joe Colombo for Pozzi, set of 8 dining chairs model '300', fabric and rosewood, Italy, 1966
Fabric, Rosewood
Sold
H 30.71 in W 18.9 in D 19.89 in
Joe Colombo for Pozzi Set of Six '300' Dining Chairs in Mint Green Fabric
By Pozzi, Joe Colombo
Located in Waalwijk, NL
Joe Colombo for Pozzi, set of six dining chairs, model '300', fabric, stained beech, Italy, 1966
Fabric, Beech
He died tragically young, and his career as a designer lasted little more than 10 years. But through the 1960s, Joe Colombo proved himself one of the field’s most provocative and original thinkers, and he produced a remarkably large array of innovative chairs, table lamps and other lighting and furniture as well as product designs. Even today, the creations of Joe Colombo have the power to surprise.
Cesare “Joe” Colombo was born in Milan, the son of an electrical-components manufacturer. He was a creative child — he loved to build huge structures from Meccano pieces — and in college he studied painting and sculpture before switching to architecture.
In the early 1950s, Colombo made and exhibited paintings and sculptures as part of an art movement that responded to the new Nuclear Age, and futuristic thinking would inform his entire career. He took up design not long after his father fell ill in 1958, and he and his brother, Gianni, were called upon to run the family company.
Colombo expanded the business to include the making of plastics — a primary material in almost all his later designs. One of his first, made in collaboration with his brother, was the Acrilica table lamp (1962), composed of a wave-shaped piece of clear acrylic resin that diffused light cast by a bulb concealed in the lamp’s metal base. A year later, Colombo produced his best-known furniture design, the Elda armchair (1963): a modernist wingback chair with a womb-like plastic frame upholstered in thick leather pads.
Portability and adaptability were keynotes of many Colombo designs, made for a more mobile society in which people would take their living environments with them. One of his most striking pieces is the Tube chair (1969). It comprises four foam-padded plastic cylinders that fit inside one another. The components, which are held together by metal clips, can be configured in a variety of seating shapes (his Additional Living System seating is similarly versatile).
Vintage Tube chairs generally sell for about $9,000 in good condition; Elda chairs for about $7,000. A small Colombo design such as the plastic Boby trolley — an office organizer on wheels, designed in 1970 — is priced in the range of $700.
As Colombo intended, his designs are best suited to a modern decor. If your tastes run to sleek, glossy Space Age looks, the work of Joe Colombo offers you a myriad of choices.
Find vintage Joe Colombo lamps, seating and other furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
With entire areas of our homes reserved for “sitting rooms,” the value of quality antique and vintage seating cannot be overstated.
Fortunately, the design of side chairs, armchairs and other lounge furniture — since what were, quite literally, the early perches of our ancestors — has evolved considerably.
Among the earliest standard seating furniture were stools. Egyptian stools, for example, designed for one person with no seat back, were x-shaped and typically folded to be tucked away. These rudimentary chairs informed the design of Greek and Roman stools, all of which were a long way from Sori Yanagi's Butterfly stool or Alvar Aalto's Stool 60. In the 18th century and earlier, seats with backs and armrests were largely reserved for high nobility.
The seating of today is more inclusive but the style and placement of chairs can still make a statement. Antique desk chairs and armchairs designed in the style of Louis XV, which eventually included painted furniture and were often made of rare woods, feature prominently curved legs as well as Chinese themes and varied ornaments. Much like the thrones of fairy tales and the regency, elegant lounges crafted in the Louis XV style convey wealth and prestige. In the kitchen, the dining chair placed at the head of the table is typically reserved for the head of the household or a revered guest.
Of course, with luxurious vintage or antique furnishings, every chair can seem like the best seat in the house. Whether your preference is stretching out on a plush sofa, such as the Serpentine, designed by Vladimir Kagan, or cozying up in a vintage wingback chair, there is likely to be a comfy classic or contemporary gem for you on 1stDibs.
With respect to the latest obsessions in design, cane seating has been cropping up everywhere, from sleek armchairs to lounge chairs, while bouclé fabric, a staple of modern furniture design, can be seen in mid-century modern, Scandinavian modern and Hollywood Regency furniture styles.
Admirers of the sophisticated craftsmanship and dark woods frequently associated with mid-century modern seating can find timeless furnishings in our expansive collection of lounge chairs, dining chairs and other items — whether they’re vintage editions or alluring official reproductions of iconic designs from the likes of Hans Wegner or from Charles and Ray Eames. Shop our inventory of Egg chairs, designed in 1958 by Arne Jacobsen, the Florence Knoll lounge chair and more.
No matter your style, the collection of unique chairs, sofas and other seating on 1stDibs is surely worthy of a standing ovation.