Pernilla Chaise Mathsson

As the descendant of four generations of Swedish master cabinetmakers, Bruno Mathsson was born to design furniture. Mathsson was known as a methodical perfectionist who made usefulness the fundamental attribute of his iconic lounge chairs, tables, armchairs and other works, yet he was also a ceaseless experimenter, who constantly searched for improvements in form, materials and methods of design.

Like the Finnish designer Alvar Aalto, Mathsson was one of the first Scandinavians to embrace undulating, biomorphic forms in furniture. His early pieces such as the Eva and Pernilla series of chairs incorporate dramatically flowing bent beechwood frames, making them some of the most instantly recognizable works of 20th-century design.

Mathsson was also a pioneer of ergonomics — he is said to have based the contours of his chairs on the impression his body made when he sat in a snow bank — and used supple, accommodating woven webbing for seats. His concern for practicality is shown by pieces such as the Maria table. An elegant design with gate legs and hinged leaves, the table measures more than nine feet long when fully extended, but folds down to just nine inches in thickness.

From the mid-1940s through the 1950s, Mathsson focused on architecture, designing and building houses with insulated, triple-glazed window walls and heated floors — construction that flew in the face of traditional wood-clad Swedish residential design, and consequently met with some skepticism. He returned to furniture in the 1960s, employing an entirely new suite of materials: Stainless-steel framing and mesh seats feature in pieces like the Jetson chair; with the mathematician Piet Hein, Mathsson designed the Super-Elliptical table, which has a laminate top and four-part tubular steel legs that sprout like flower stems from a single base. 

Bruno Mathsson’s stylistic flexibility as a designer made him a creator whose pieces meet all tastes and needs.

Find vintage Bruno Mathsson dining tables, seating and other furniture on 1stDibs.

Sit back, relax and get all of the ergonomic support you could ever need by introducing an alluring antique or vintage chaise longue in your living room or by your outdoor fire pit.

The chaise longue is an upholstered piece of furniture that was made popular in France in the early 16th century. This low reclining seat — a “long chair” in English — boasts an elongated form and low back that extends about half the length of the furnishing, affording the welcome opportunity for a sitter to put their feet up and relax. A comfortable common ground between sofas and daybeds, early iterations of chaise longues were discovered in Ancient Egypt and were later frequently used in both Greece and Rome.

In the late 1700s, the first chaise longues were imported to America, and English speakers have struggled with the name ever since. (In the United States, the term is frequently spelled “chaise lounge.”) So, how do you pronounce chaise longue? It sounds like “shayz lawng,” but limiting it to shayz is perfectly acceptable in the States.

Antique Victorian chaise longues and 19th-century chaise longues bring luxury and perhaps extravagance to your living space while mid-century modern chaise longues, designed by the likes of Adrian Pearsall, Vladimir Kagan or Milo Baughman, can alter an interior with dazzling geometric contours and richly varied textures.

On 1stDibs, find many kinds of chaise longues for your home — from sculptural works by Charlotte Perriand to plush and velvety Louis XVI pieces to minimalist contemporary versions to suit your understated decor.