The eye-catching work of the Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen often introduces new collectors to mid-20th century furniture. With their fluid lines and sculptural presence, Jacobsen’s signature pieces — the elegant Swan chair and the cozy-yet-cutting edge Egg chair, both first presented in 1958 — are iconic representations of both the striking aesthetic of the designers of the era and their concomitant attention to practicality and comfort. Jacobsen designed furniture that had both gravitas and groove.
Though Jacobsen is a paragon of Danish modernism, his approach to design was the least “Danish” of those who are counted as his peers. The designs of Hans Wegner, Finn Juhl, Børge Mogensen and others grew out of their studies as cabinetmakers. They prized skilled craftsmanship and their primary material was carved, turned and joined wood. Jacobsen was first and foremost an architect, and while he shared his colleagues’ devotion to quality of construction, he was far more open to other materials such as metal and fiberglass.
Many of Jacobsen’s best-known pieces had their origin in architectural commissions. His molded-plywood, three-legged Ant chair (1952) was first designed for the cafeteria of a pharmaceutical company headquarters. The tall-backed Oxford chair was made for the use of dons at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford, whose Jacobsen-designed campus opened in 1962 (while still under construction). The Swan, Egg and Drop chairs and the AJ desk lamp were all created as part of Jacobsen’s plan for the SAS Royal Copenhagen Hotel, which opened in 1960. (The hotel has since been redecorated, but one guest room has been preserved with all-Jacobsen accoutrements.)
To Jacobsen’s mind, the chief merit of any design was practicality. He designed the first stainless-steel cutlery set made by the Danish silver company Georg Jensen; Jacobsen’s best-selling chair — the plywood Series 7 — was created to provide lightweight, stackable seating for modern eat-in kitchens. But as you will see from the objects on 1stDibs, style never took a backseat to function in Arne Jacobsen’s work. His work merits a place in any modern design collection.
Find authentic Arne Jacobsen chairs, tables, sofas and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Arne Jacobsen 'Roman' Table Clock, White, Ø 4.3 in
By Arne Jacobsen
Located in New York, NY
The world-renowned architect's table clock with alarm feature was created in 1939. Its graphic look and metal base – clearly referencing his own Ant and No. 7 chairs – make the clock...
Plastic
Arne Jacobsen 'City Hall' Table Clock, Black, Ø 4.3 in
By Arne Jacobsen
Located in New York, NY
The world-renowned architect's table clock with alarm feature was created in 1939. Its graphic look and metal base – clearly referencing his own Ant and No. 7 chairs – make the clock...
Plastic
Arne Jacobsen 'Bankers' Table Clock, White, Ø 4.3 in
By Arne Jacobsen
Located in New York, NY
The world-renowned architect's table clock with alarm feature was created in 1939. Its graphic look and metal base – clearly referencing his own Ant and No. 7 chairs – make the clock...
Plastic
Arne Jacobsen 'LK' Table Clock, White, Ø 4.3 in
By Arne Jacobsen
Located in New York, NY
The world-renowned architect's table clock with alarm feature was created in 1939. Its graphic look and metal base – clearly referencing his own Ant and No. 7 chairs – make the clock...
Plastic
Arne Jacobsen 'Station' Table Clock, Red, Ø 4.3 in
By Arne Jacobsen
Located in New York, NY
The world-renowned architect's table clock with alarm feature was created in 1939. Its graphic look and metal base – clearly referencing his own Ant and No. 7 chairs – make the clock...
Plastic
Arne Jacobsen 'Station' Table Clock, Green, Ø 4.3 in
By Arne Jacobsen
Located in New York, NY
The world-renowned architect's table clock with alarm feature was created in 1939. Its graphic look and metal base – clearly referencing his own Ant and No. 7 chairs – make the clock...
Plastic
Arne Jacobsen 'Station' Table Clock, Blue, Ø 4.3 in
By Arne Jacobsen
Located in New York, NY
Arne Jacobsen’s petrol-blue Station table clock is ideal as an alarm clock with useful detailing in a calm bedroom, as a colourful element in the bathroom or as a stylish detail in a...
Plastic
Arne Jacobsen 'Station' Table Clock, Grey, Ø 4.3 in
By Arne Jacobsen
Located in New York, NY
The elegant Station Table Clock by Arne Jacobsen Clocks was originally designed back in 1939, when Arne Jacobsen designed a home for electricity company CEO Lauritz Knudsen. The attr...
Plastic
Arne Jacobsen 'Station' Table Clock, White, Ø 4.3 in
By Arne Jacobsen
Located in New York, NY
The world-renowned architect's table clock with alarm feature was created in 1939. Its graphic look and metal base – clearly referencing his own Ant and No. 7 chairs – make the clock...
Plastic
Arne Jacobsen 'City Hall' Table Clock, Sand, Ø 4.3 in
By Arne Jacobsen
Located in New York, NY
Arne Jacobsen's City Hall table clock was originally designed for Rødovre Town Hall in 1956. What makes the City Hall clock so popular is its universal expression, which is why it wa...
Plastic
Arne Jacobsen 'Bankers' Table Clock, Grey, Ø 4.3 in
By Arne Jacobsen
Located in New York, NY
Arne Jacobsen was known as an architect who made total designs when de designed buildings. In 1971, Arne Jacobsen drew the Nation bank in Copenhagen. For the beautiful marble clad bu...
Plastic
Schauer Industrial or Station Clock, Vienna, 1964
By Schauer
Located in Vienna, AT
Four pieces available The clock is in perfect condition, no major scratches, no glass scratched. Flat glass cover, black painted figures an ivory white embossed dish, painted blac...
Steel
Large Siemens Factory, Station or Workshop Wall Clock
By Siemens
Located in Vienna, AT
Huge 43cm steel painted clock face made in Germany in the 1950s. Formerly a slave clock, it is now fitted with a modern quartz movement with a batt...
Steel
Contemporary Wall Clock 'Moment' in Black Lava Stone
By Bentu Design, Buzao
Located in Paris, IDF
Wall clock 'Moment' by Buzao x Bentu design. Black lava stone Measure: Diameter 24cm.
Lava
$4,640Sale Price|20% Off
H 23 in W 16.5 in D 6 in
French Empire Gilt and Patinated Bronze Clock of a Seated Roman Emperor
By Claude Galle
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
A late French Empire period mantel (fireplace) clock showing a seated Roman emperor in finely chased patinated bronze holding a sword in one hand and a Roman banner in the other. He ...
Bronze
Large Bakelite Industrial, Train Station Wall Clock
Located in Vienna, AT
Bakelite industrial wall clock from about 1940's, 1950's. Diameter 49 cm and a depth of 10,5 cm. The clock is in perfect condition, no major scr...
Bakelite, Glass
Soft Clock, Ceramics, White Ceramics
By Kiki van Eijk, Kiki & Joost
Located in Eindhoven, NL
Soft is a collection of sensual and tactile ceramic pieces in which Kiki looks at vernacular shapes to re-imagine them. The Netherlands has a long history of craft and Dutch designer...
Ceramic
New Haven Clock Co. Art Nouveau Style Table Clock
By New Haven Clock Company
Located in Guaynabo, PR
This is an Art Nouveau Style Table Clock. It depicts a small balloon shape clock mounted in copper color metal. A standing young nymph is adorning the front of the case while holding its face. The white enamel round dial of the clock has Arabic numbers and is also decorated with a garland of roses and leaves around the center. The gold color metal hours and minutes hands are made of scrolls of leaves. At the bottom of the dial face is hallmarked New Haven Clock...
Bronze
Floating Frames Mantel clock Red
By Kiki van Eijk, Kiki & Joost
Located in Eindhoven, NL
Kiki van Eijk designed Floating Frames as a collection of handmade objects in anodized aluminium wire. Each piece is meticulously handmade in her workshop; no two items are alike. ...
Aluminum
$14,800Sale Price|20% Off
H 8.25 in W 6.5 in D 1.88 in
"Art Deco Clock in Chinese Manner", Gübelin Clock w/ Red Hardstone Finial
By Gubelin
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Bold and elegant, this rare -- possibly unique -- Art Deco table clock in the Chinese manner by the renowned Gübelin firm in Switzerland is a close cousin to the impossibly rarified ...
Marble
$940Sale Price|45% Off
H 25.5 in W 15.5 in D 5 in
Seth Thomas City Series Mantel Clock, Victorian Walnut & Brass, 1880s
By Seth Thomas Clock Company
Located in New Orleans, LA
Seth Thomas City Series - Pittsburgh VP. 6 in. Paper dial with silvered bezel, black Roman hour numerals, spade hands; 8 day spring driven movement No. 6 3/4, signed - S. Thomas, Tho...
Brass
Table clock Opening lost hinge Swiss clock 8-day Salimbeni
By Giorgio Salimbeni, Salimbeni
Located in Firenze, FI
Rectangular table clock with rounded vertical sides in 925/1000 sterling silver with translucent fired enamel on guilloche, in Art Nouveau style from the early 1900s. Hand-engraved e...
Sterling Silver, Enamel
$1,625Sale Price|35% Off
H 11.42 in W 11.42 in D 1.58 in
Danish Midcentury Wall Clock by Arne Jacobsen Model Roman
By Arne Jacobsen
Located in Haddonfield, NJ
Danish Mid-Century Modern Wall Clock by Arne Jacobsen model Roma with Quartz clockwork. Arne Jacobsen for Rosendahl. Steel wall clock wi...
Stainless Steel