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Ralph Rapson Rocker

Early Ralph Rapson Rocker with Leather Webbing
By Ralph Rapson, Knoll
Located in Kalamazoo, MI
by Ralph Rapson. It boasts a solid birch frame with original woven leather webbing showing great
Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs

Materials

Birch, Leather

Ralph Rapson Lounge Chairs for Knoll 1945
By Ralph Rapson, Knoll
Located in Chicago, IL
Ralph Rapson Lounge Chairs for Knoll 1945 Scarce Design features, Solid birch frames with fully
Category

Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs

Materials

Fabric, Birch

Early Ralph Rapson Rocker for Knoll
By Ralph Rapson
Located in New York, NY
Rocker designed by Minneapolis-based architect Ralph Rapson. Part of a line of chairs designed for
Category

Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs

Materials

Cotton, Birch

Early Ralph Rapson Rocker for Knoll
Early Ralph Rapson Rocker for Knoll
H 28.5 in W 28.5 in D 32 in

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Swedish Rocking Chair in Sheepskin, 1940s
Swedish Rocking Chair in Sheepskin, 1940s
H 31.5 in W 25.99 in D 40.16 in

Recent Sales

1945 Ralph Rapson Rocker for Knoll
By Ralph Rapson
Located in Tulsa, OK
This is an early beautiful condition birch frame rocking chair designed by Ralph Rapson for Knoll
Category

Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs

Materials

Cotton, Birch

1945 Ralph Rapson Rocker for Knoll
1945 Ralph Rapson Rocker for Knoll
H 28 in W 28.5 in D 32 in
Ralph Rapson High Back Lounge Chair
By Ralph Rapson, Knoll
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Ralph Rapson Early High Back Lounge Chair for Knoll Rapson designed an entire series of furniture
Category

Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs

Materials

Leather, Upholstery, Birch

Ralph Rapson High Back Lounge Chair
Ralph Rapson High Back Lounge Chair
H 38 in W 28.5 in D 29 in
Original Upholstered Rapson Rocker
Located in New York, NY
Rocker designed by Minneapolis-based architect Ralph Rapson. Part of a line of chairs designed for
Category

Vintage 1940s American Rocking Chairs

Materials

Birch

Original Upholstered Rapson Rocker
Original Upholstered Rapson Rocker
H 29 in W 28 in D 32 in
Rare Rocker Chair by Ralph Rapson for Knoll
By Ralph Rapson, Knoll
Located in Hadley, MA
Rare rocker chair by Ralph Rapson for Knoll, produced in very limited quantities between 1946 and
Category

Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs

Materials

Birch

rocker by Ralph Rapson
By Knoll
Located in Chicago, IL
rocker by Ralph Rapson
Category

20th Century American Rocking Chairs

rocker by Ralph Rapson
rocker by Ralph Rapson
H 29 in W 24.75 in D 32 in
Ralph Rapson "Model 657" Rocker
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Hession et al., Ralph Rapson: Sixty Years of Modern Design, Afton, Minnesota, 1999, p. 83
Category

Vintage 1940s American Rocking Chairs

Materials

Birch

Ralph Rapson
Located in Washington, DC
Ralph Rapson's iconic Greenbelt Rocker from 1945 by HG Knoll. Original condition. Original Finish
Category

20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs

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Maple

Ralph Rapson
Ralph Rapson
H 31 in W 23 in D 28 in
Ralph Rapson Rocking Chair for Knoll, c. 1945.
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Rare early Rocker designed by Ralph Rapson and manufactured by HG Knoll in 1945. Very limited
Category

Vintage 1940s American Chairs

Ralph Rapson Rocking Chair for Knoll, c. 1945.
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Ralph Rapson's iconic Greenbelt rocking chair from 1945 by HG Knoll. This rare early rocker was in
Category

Vintage 1940s American Chairs

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Finding the Right Rocking-chairs for You

The phrase “rocking chair” didn’t find its way into the dictionary until the mid-18th century. While most of the sitting furniture that we use in our homes originated in either England or France, the iconic rocking chair is a quintessentially American piece of furniture.

A Philadelphia cabinetmaker’s bill for a proto-rocking chair issued in 1742, which identified the seat as a “Nurse Chair with rockers,” is the earliest surviving evidence of this design’s humble beginnings. The nurse chair was a low side chair intended for nursing women, so giving it a soothing rocking motion made sense. Rocking chairs, which saw a curved slat affixed to the chairs’ feet so that they could be literally rocked, quickly gained popularity across the United States, garnering a reputation as a seat that everyone could love. They offered casual comfort without the expensive fabrics and upholstery that put armchairs out of many families’ budgets.

Rocking chairs are unique in that they don’t just offer a place to rest — they offer an opportunity to reminisce. The presence of one of these classic pieces stirs up our penchant for nostalgia and has the power to transform a space. They easily introduce a simple country feel to the city or bring the peaceful rhythm of a porch swing into a sheltered sunroom. Although craftsmen took to painting and stenciling varieties of the chairs that emerged in New England during the 19th century, the most traditional rocking chairs are generally unadorned seats constructed with time-tested materials like wood and metal. As such, a minimalist vintage rocking chair can be ushered into any corner of your home without significantly disrupting your existing decor scheme or the room’s color palette.

In the decades since the first rocker, top designers have made the piece their own. Viennese chair maker Michael Thonet produced a series of rockers in the middle of the 19th century in which the different curved steam-bent wood parts were integrated into fluid, sinuous wholes. Mid-century modernists Charles and Ray Eames added wooden rockers to their famous plastic shell armchair, while Danish designer Frank Reenskaug opted for teak and polished beech, introducing pops of color with small cushions (a precursor to the bold works that would follow in the 1970s and 1980s).

No matter your personal style, let 1stDibs pair you with your perfect seat. Deck out your porch, patio or parlor — browse the vintage, new and antique rocking chairs in our vast collection today.

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