Martingale Armchair

Italian designer Marco Zanuso helped cement his country’s place as a world leader in furniture design that used new materials in revolutionary ways.

Zanuso was part of a generation of furniture designers who encouraged a sharp departure from the traditionalism and classicalism that reigned over the design industry before the war. These designers, who are associated with what we now call mid-century modernism, experimented with new technologies and materials to deliver on the world’s newfound need for streamlined products that represented the future.

After graduating from the Polytechnic University of Milan in 1939 with a degree in architecture, Zanuso served in the Navy during World War II. Soon after the war, he opened his own design firm in Milan in 1945. He later became an editor at well-regarded design magazines Domus and Casabella.

Zanuso used this editorial platform to both promote new Italian designs as well as his own pieces, some of which he made using unconventional materials like foam and latex. For instance, his famous Lady armchair from 1951 is a composition of foam rubber and Nastro Cord, a recently invented textile band of rubberized fabric that eliminated the need for metal springs. It was one of several pieces he designed for Italian manufacturer Arflex, along with the 1949 Antropus chair and the 1951 Sleep-o-matic sofa.

Zanuso often collaborated with other like-minded creatives. From 1955 until 1957, he was Olivetti’s architect, designing factories across Brazil, and for nearly two decades, he collaborated with German designer Richard Sapper. The pair’s most famous product is the 4999 children’s chair, manufactured in the 1960s by Kartell in Italy. The stackable chair was the first to be manufactured entirely of injection-molded plastic.

Zanuso and Sapper also partnered on the 1962 Brionvega Doney 14, the first European-made portable transistor TV; its sleek, compact and curvy form deeply influenced the design of television sets that followed, which were far more sculptural in form than the rigid boxes that characterized early models.

From the 1970s onward, Zanuso taught architecture and industrial design at the Polytechnic University of Milan. He still exercised his creative talents, planning the headquarters for computer companies and renovating Italian theaters.

Each of Zanuso’s elegant works were demonstrative of a forward-looking sensibility. His projects saw an integration of novel industrial materials that not only helped emphasize the beauty of good design but also played a role in rendering these well-made products accessible to everyday consumers.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of vintage Marco Zanuso furniture, including armchairs, sofas, table lamps and other items.

Armchairs have run the gamut from prestige to ease and everything in between, and everyone has an antique or vintage armchair that they love.

Long before industrial mass production democratized seating, armchairs conveyed status and power.

In ancient Egypt, the commoners took stools, while in early Greece, ceremonial chairs of carved marble were designated for nobility. But the high-backed early thrones of yore, elevated and ornate, were merely grandiose iterations of today’s armchairs.

Modern-day armchairs, built with functionality and comfort in mind, are now central to tasks throughout your home. Formal dining armchairs support your guests at a table for a cheery feast, a good drafting chair with a deep seat is parked in front of an easel where you create art and, elsewhere, an ergonomic wonder of sorts positions you at the desk for your 9 to 5.

When placed under just the right lamp where you can lounge comfortably, both elbows resting on the padded supports on each side of you, an upholstered armchair — or a rattan armchair for your light-suffused sunroom — can be the sanctuary where you’ll read for hours.

If you’re in the mood for company, your velvet chesterfield armchair is a place to relax and be part of the conversation that swirls around you. Maybe the dialogue is about the beloved Papa Bear chair, a mid-century modern masterpiece from Danish carpenter and furniture maker Hans Wegner, and the wingback’s strong association with the concept of cozying up by the fireplace, which we can trace back to its origins in 1600s-era England, when the seat’s distinctive arm protrusions protected the sitter from the heat of the period’s large fireplaces.

If the fireside armchair chat involves spirited comparisons, your companions will likely probe the merits of antique and vintage armchairs such as Queen Anne armchairs, Victorian armchairs or even Louis XVI armchairs, as well as the pros and cons of restoration versus conservation.

Everyone seems to have a favorite armchair and most people will be all too willing to talk about their beloved design. Whether that’s the unique Favela chair by Brazilian sibling furniture designers Fernando and Humberto Campana, who repurposed everyday objects to provocative effect; or Marcel Breuer’s futuristic tubular metal Wassily lounge chair; the functionality-first LC series from Charlotte Perriand, Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret; or the Eames lounge chair of the mid-1950s created by Charles and Ray Eames, there is an iconic armchair for everyone and every purpose. Find yours on 1stDibs right now.