For all the people who think designer objects need to make bold statements with attention-grabbing forms and materials, the revered British designer Jasper Morrison has a message: The quieter objects are often the better products.
Some of Morrison’s earliest creations, such as the 1986 Thinking Man’s chair, with its snaking tubular steel armrests, and the 1991 3 sofa deluxe, whose sculpted seat resembles an enormous wave (both produced by the Italian manufacturer Cappellini, one of the planet's preeminent producers of cutting-edge home decor), display the eye-catching moves that were expected among his contemporaries.
At the same, Morrison was clearly searching for a different language. In 1988, just three years after he graduated from London’s Royal College of Art, he stunned many in the design world with “Some New Items for the Home,” an exhibition in Berlin featuring simple plywood furniture he had designed and made himself as a direct rebuke to the over-the-top colors and geometries of the Memphis movement. As Morrison increasingly came to see statement-making design as flawed and wasteful, he began producing the subtler objects that eventually became his greatest hits and inspired a new generation of designers.
Morrison’s Glo-Ball lamps for FLOS, for instance, feature opalescent blown-glass diffusers that resemble ever-so-slightly squished spheres with a striking visual softness. Designed in 1998, the pieces were instantly popular and have remained a best seller for the legendary Italian lighting maker. Morrison’s Cork Family stools for Vitra, designed in 2004, have proved similarly timeless, with simple silhouettes reminiscent of thread spools whose unexpected material — solid cork — makes them particularly alluring.
By 2005, Morrison had befriended another designer working in a similar manner — Japan’s Naoto Fukasawa. That year, Fukasawa introduced his Déjà-vu stool for Magis at the Salone del Mobile in Milan and was dismayed when fairgoers barely noticed it. Crestfallen, Fukasawa talked to Morrison, who saw the scenario differently: The fact that people instinctively used the stool meant that it was successful. To cheer up Fukasawa, Morrison described his design as “super normal.” Morrison and Fukasawa latched onto this phrase as an ideal term for what they were up to.
Launched in 2006, Morrison and Fukasawa’s “Super Normal” — a traveling exhibition and a book that served as a visual manifesto — documented more than 200 utilitarian yet beautiful objects, ranging from a paper clip, a plastic bucket and a ballpoint pen to an Alessi citrus basket, Vitsoe’s 606 universal shelving system by Dieter Rams and Vitra’s Joyn office system by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. That same year, Morrison began playing with extreme simplicity and introduced the Crate, a wooden bedside table for Established & Sons that was modeled on an old wine crate he used for his own bedside table.
Today, Morrison delights in finding the correct balance in his designs, turning out products that seem appealingly natural and precisely what they should be.
Find Jasper Morrison chairs, lighting, stools and other furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
2022 Pair of Jasper Morrison for Cappellini Hi Pad Dining Chairs with White Base
By Cappellini, Jasper Morrison
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Listed for sale is a pair of Hi Pad dining chairs made with white stainless steel bases and grey fabric seats. The chairs were designed by Jasper Morrison and produced by Cappellini¬...
Stainless Steel
2000s Set of Four Air Chairs by Jasper Morrison for Magis Italy in Green
By Jasper Morrison, Magis
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This is a set of four Air Chairs in green, designed by Jasper Morrison for Magis in 2000. The listed price includes the set of four side chairs, and we have two sets available for pu...
2022 Jasper Morrison for Cappellini Hi Pad Dining Chair in Black Leather
By Jasper Morrison, Cappellini
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Listed for sale is a Hi Pad dining chair made with a black stainless steel base and black leather seat. The chair was designed by Jasper Morrison and produced by Cappellini in Italy...
Stainless Steel
2022 Jasper Morrison for Cappellini Hi Pad Dining Chair w/ White Base
By Jasper Morrison, Cappellini
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Listed for sale are three (3) Hi Pad dining chairs, priced individually, made with a white stainless steel base and grey fabric seat. The upholstery appears to be Hero by Kvadrat. Th...
Stainless Steel
2019 Vitra All Plastic Dining Chairs by Jasper Morrison in Graphite Grey
By Vitra, Jasper Morrison
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This is an "All Plastic" Side Dining Chair, initially designed by Jasper Morrison for Vitra in 2016. These examples date to 2019 and were produced in Italy. The listed price includes...
Rubber
2019 Jasper Morrison for Vitra HAL Grey Side Chair With Wood Legs
By Vitra, Jasper Morrison
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This is a HAL side chair, designed by Jasper Morrison in 2010. This clean contemporary chain features a molded plastic seat, and has legs made from wood. This particular example is d...
Metal
2022 Jasper Morrison for Cappellini Hi Pad Dining Chair in Navy Blue Leather
By Cappellini, Jasper Morrison
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Listed for sale is a Hi Pad dining chair made with a black stainless steel base and dark navy blue leather seat. The chair designed by Jasper Morrison, produced by Cappellini in Ita...
Stainless Steel
$11,726
H 22.84 in W 127.96 in D 61.03 in
1st edition Super-Oblong sectional sofa design Jasper Morrison for Cappellini
By Jasper Morrison, Cappellini
Located in Offenburg, Baden Wurthemberg
1st edition Superoblong sectional Sofa designed by Jasper Morrison for Cappellini, Italy. First edition with inlets filled with polystyrene spheres. Measurements: 325 cm x 155 cm...
Fabric, Polystyrene
$1,650 / set
H 27 in W 17 in D 13.5 in
Jasper Morrison Hi Pad Counter Stools for Cappellini - Set of Three
By Jasper Morrison, Cappellini
Located in Miami, FL
Set of Three Hi Pad counter stools with foot rests designed by Jasper Morrison for Cappellini. The Hi Pad stool features a seat in beech plywood padded with multi-density polyurethan...
Steel
$1,012 / item
H 30.52 in W 19.3 in D 20.08 in
Set of 4 Air chair in Black by Jasper Morrison for MAGIS
By Magis, Jasper Morrison
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Air-Family takes its name from the “air-moulding” technology that makes it possible to create highly resistant yet super-lightweight products out of polypropylene added with fibregla...
Plastic
$2,650 / set
H 31 in W 22 in D 28 in
Pair of "Low Pad" Leather chairs By Jasper Morrison For Cappellini
By Jasper Morrison
Located in Toronto, ON
This chic and stylish vintage pair of leather Low Pad chairs by British designer Jasper Morrison for Cappellini are beautifully designed for maximum c...
Stainless Steel
Mauro Mori “Ronda” Chair for Cappellini Milan
By Cappellini, Mauro Mori
Located in Palm Springs, CA
A handmade chair designed by Mauro Mori for Cappellini crafted out of Rose Albitia from the Seychelles islands. It has been authenticated by Cappellini and has not been produced for ...
Wood
$1,200Sale Price|20% Off
H 33.5 in W 19.5 in D 24 in
White Panton Chair by Verner Panton for Vitra with Side Stool
By Verner Panton, Vitra
Located in Pasadena, TX
White Panton chair by Verner Panton for Vitra with Side Stool Captivated by the potential of plastic, Danish designer Verner Panton created the fir...
Plastic
$18,500 / set
H 25.5 in W 130 in D 38.5 in
Jasper Morrison for Vitra Chocolate Brown Leather Soft Sectional Modular Sofa
By Jasper Morrison, Vitra
Located in Chicago, IL
Jasper Morrison for Vitra Chocolate Brown Leather Soft Sectional Modular Sofa (2016) Designed by Jasper Morrison, this low-slung modular sofa features balanced proportions, exception...
Steel
$2,833 / item
H 27.56 in W 23.23 in D 23.23 in
December Chair with Leather Upholstery by Jasper Morrison & Wataru Kumano
By Jasper Morrison
Located in Fiskars, FI
December chair is designed by Jasper Morrison and Wataru Kumano, 2012. The chair is light and comfortable, and thanks to its simple Nordic design it sui...
Leather, Ash, Oak
$8,200 / item
H 35 in W 20 in D 23 in
Verner Panton for Vitra Glow Panton Chair, Luminescent, White, Blue, Limited Ed
By Vitra, Verner Panton
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Verner Panton for Vitra Glow Panton chair, Luminescent, white, limited edition, on occasion of 50th anniversary. 1000 luminescent produced. After several years of joint development by Verner Panton and Vitra, the Panton chair was finally ready for production in 1967 – as the first all-plastic cantilever chair to be manufactured in one piece. Created with a revolutionary production technique, the chair’s unique sculptural design was presented to the public for the first time at the imm Furniture Fair in Cologne in 1968. It rapidly came to symbolise an entire era. In 2018, 50 years after its launch, Vitra is issuing two limited editions of this iconic classic: Panton Chrome and Panton Glow. Vitra limited production of the “Glow” to 333 chairs which were sold in June 2018, the 50th anniversary of the first presentation of the chair to the public. Verner Panton showed an ardent interest in innovative technologies, techniques and materials over the course of his lifetime. He worked with lighting, colour and luminous elements in many of his futuristic interiors. For his legendary 1970 installation ‘Visiona 2...
Plastic
Incised Iron Three-Leg Side Chair
Located in Chicago, IL
Wrought iron framed architecturally inspired chair with arched three part back and sides constructed of incised flat wrought iron bars and silver enamel. Circular seat with woven iro...
Wrought Iron
$10,649
H 25.6 in W 112.21 in D 31.5 in
Oblong sectional sofa designed by Jasper Morrison for Cappellini
By Jasper Morrison, Cappellini
Located in Offenburg, Baden Wurthemberg
Oblong sectional Sofa designed by Jasper Morrison for Cappellini, Italy. Jasper Morrison creates his furniture with a light touch and yet perfectionally functional. He counts they’...
Fabric, Polystyrene, Foam, Plywood
Modern Suelo Side Chair, Turned Leg
By Bertu Furniture
Located in Oak Harbor, OH
This modern Suelo® side chair, turned leg is beautifully constructed from solid wood in Ohio, USA. The sofa's Silhouette is simple, modern, and sleek with comfortable reversible back...
Maple
Jasper Morisson HAL Chairs
By Jasper Morrison
Located in Dronten, NL
HAL is Jasper Morrison's interpretation of a shell chair in the tradition of the Plastic Chair by Charles and Ray Eames, whose versatility enables use from dining tables to meeting r...
Steel, Chrome
Sold
H 20.75 in W 32 in D 16.5 in
Four Cappellini Hi Pad Italian Leather Dining Chairs by Jasper Morrison
By Jasper Morrison
Located in Pasadena, TX
A set of four Hi Pad Cappellini side chairs designed by Jasper Morrison stainless steel bases with white Italian leather seats and backs.