Jens Risom Furniture
Danish, American, 1916-2016
The Danish-born Jens Risom brought the Scandinavian modern design sensibility to a wide audience in the United States. As the first designer for Knoll Inc., Risom introduced American buyers to the region’s enduring design values of simplicity, grace and craftsmanship.
Risom trained in furniture making at the Copenhagen School of Industrial Arts and Design under Ole Wanscher, alongside classmates Hans Wegner and Børge Mogensen. In 1939, a year after graduating from business school, Risom decided to move to the U.S.
While working for an interior designer in New York in 1941, he met Hans Knoll, and the businessman and the designer hit it off. They brought out their first line the next year, despite wartime materials restrictions. The signature piece — now a design icon — was a lounge chair with a striking, undulant birch frame and a seat made of webbed sub-military grade parachute straps. Risom was drafted into the army, and served as a translator under General George Patton. When he returned from the war, Risom clashed over furniture design ideals with his business partner’s new bride, Florence Knoll, the pioneering mid-century modernist who was schooled in the Bauhaus method, which favored furniture with strict, geometric metal frames. Risom then started his own company, Jens Risom Design.
In the course of his long career, Risom developed a stylistic vocabulary that was a reflection of the life of the man himself: his furniture has Danish warmth coupled with an American air of crisp efficiency. Vintage Risom chairs are almost instantly recognizable — the arms and seat backs are set at a distinctive angle that seems to invite people to sit back and relax, yet they know they can hop up in an instant, ready to go.
As you will see on these pages, Jens Risom is one of the great men of American modern design who made furniture that is unique and timeless.
Find a collection of vintage Jens Risom furniture on 1stDibs that includes lounge chairs, desks, coffee tables and more.
Color: Black
Creator: Jens Risom
Scarce Pair of Jens Risom Sculptural Chromed Steel Lounge Chairs
By Jens Risom
Located in Southampton, NJ
Pair of rare early easy chairs designed by Jens Risom having solid chrome steel frames with Knoll wool fabric in black. Elegant lines and a design th...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Steel, Chrome
Set of 8 Jens Risom Danish Black Fabric Upholstered Teak 'Playboy' Armchairs
By Jens Risom
Located in New York, NY
SET of 8 Danish Mid-Century 'Playboy' armchairs with angular teak wood frames and black woven fabric upholstered seats and backs with button tufting. (JENS RISOM)(PRICED AS SET)
Category
20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Fabric, Teak, Upholstery, Wood
Jens Risom Mid-Century Diamond Top Walnut and Black Vinyl Coffee Table
By Jens Risom
Located in New York, NY
American/Danish Mid-Century walnut coffee table with a gently diamond-shaped top resting on a structured stretcher base with four tapered legs and stretcher shelf made of stretched b...
Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Wood, Walnut
Jens Risom Danish Mid-Century Black Tufted Vinyl and Wood Floating Bench
By Jens Risom
Located in New York, NY
Danish Mid-Century floating bench with a black vinyl button tufted seat resting on a wooden floating frame base. (JENS RISOM).
Category
20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Upholstery, Wood
Jens Risom Midcentury Coffee Table
By Jens Risom
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Vintage modern square table with floating top. Simple, handsome design by Jens Risom, featuring a detached looking top.
(Please confirm item lo...
Category
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Walnut
Jens Risom Teak Wood Arm Chair In Black Striped Chenille
By Jens Risom
Located in Chicago, IL
Danish Modern style teak wood arm chair in black striped chenille upholstery. Single Danish teak wood arm chair has a thick sloping seat and a form fitting back cushion. Angular and ...
Category
1950s Danish Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Teak
Stunning Black Button Tufted Leather Swivel Chairs, Jens Risom for Marble, Pair
By Marble Imperial, Jens Risom
Located in Buffalo, NY
Stunning pair of black button tufted leather swivel chairs by Jens Risom for marble, Classic Mid-Century Modern design, self balancing swivel mechanism bringing chairs back to positi...
Category
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Aluminum, Steel
Jens Risom Walnut and Laminate Coffee Table
By Jens Risom
Located in Asbury Park, NJ
Versatile square coffee or cocktail table by Jens Risom, with straight, turned walnut legs, squared stretchers and a floating white laminate top.
Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Jens Risom Furniture
End Table by Jens Risom
By Jens Risom
Located in Sagaponack, NY
An expressive end table in rich walnut having raised and curved tapered side rails connected directly to the legs that support a floating top.
Category
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Walnut
Pair of Jens Risom "Playboy" Armchairs
By Jens Risom
Located in New York, NY
Beautiful pair of armchairs by Jens Risom, model C140 in walnut frame and original green upholstery in excellent condition.
Price is for the pair only.
Category
1960s American Scandinavian Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Upholstery, Walnut
Related Items
Mid-Century Vintage Jens Risom Knoll Webbed Armchair
By Knoll, Jens Risom
Located in Baltimore, MD
A stunning iconic cotton strap, webbed, lounge, armchair, 652W design (1943) early edition, designed by Jens Risom for Knoll International. Features a solid maple frame with original woven cotton straps. It is one of the most comfortable pieces you will sit in, the exquisite curved back provides lumbar support making this chair as comfortable as it is beautiful. The removable webbed, basket seat, shell is supported and rests on the arm frame base. Very Rare Vintage Modern Classic design. An iconic piece of furniture, this example has remained in a single collection since it was acquired by the prior owner from Knoll International and the original early label remains affixed beneath. (Knoll Associates Inc. 601 Madison Ave New York 22). This label has the earliest Knoll Associates showroom address, which opened in 1946.
Measurements: 24.5 ” tall x 24? wide x 30? deep x seat height 18? (arm height 21") (seat to the lowest point 11")
Jens Risom
Danish-American architect-designer Jens Risom was born in Copenhagen in 1916, the son of a nationally renowned architect of the Nordic Classicism style. Between 1935 and 1938, he trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts under Ole Wanscher and Kaare Klint, alongside classmates Hans Wegner and Børge Mogensen. For a short time following his studies, he took on furniture and interior designer projects for the Copenhagen-based architectural firm Ernst Kuhn. He then moved briefly to Stockholm, where he worked for Nordiska Kompaniet and met Alvar Aalto and Bruno Mathsson. Around 1939, he immigrated to New York with ambitions to introduce the Scandinavian modernist approach to the US furniture market.
Risom’s arrival in the US coincided with the years of materials shortages brought on by the war. As a result, Risom was unable to secure a position in a furniture company, and, instead, found work designing textiles for decorator Dan Cooper. Eager to do more, he soon convinced Cooper to expand into the furniture market, and together they found projects with young, progressive architects like Ed Stone and George Nelson. In 1939-40, Ed Stone was invited to create Collier Magazine’s House of Ideas pavilion at Rockefeller Center as part of the New York World’s Fair, and Risom designed all of the furniture.
Around 1941, Risom met Hans Knoll, a German-born entrepreneur in the furniture industry who had a showroom on Madison Avenue dedicated to rather lackluster furnishings. Sharing a dream to do something more vanguard, they joined forces and set off on a four-month tour of the US in search of design inspiration. By 1942, Knoll launched Hans Knoll Furniture Company with Risom on board as his head designer.
Risom’s early designs for Knoll made use of military surplus...
Category
1940s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Fabric, Maple
Pair of Jens Risom Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
By Jens Risom
Located in New York, NY
Danish Jens Risom attributed Mid-Century Modern armchairs with new wool felt upholstery, circa 1960s . Button tufted. Tapered legs with minor loses and fading to wood. Good original ...
Category
1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Wool
1960s Jens Risom Sculptural Floating Lounge Chairs, a Set
By Jens Risom
Located in Farmington Hills, MI
We are very pleased to offer a Mid-Century Modern, gorgeous pair of lounge chairs by Jens Risom, circa the 1960s. This fabulous set has been newly upholstered in a zebra stripe velve...
Category
1960s Unknown Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Fabric, Hardwood
Pair of Mid Century X Stretcher Ottomans or Footstools
Located in Port Jervis, NY
Simple and elegant pair of Mid Century ottomans a xwith travel related print in the fabric. X Stretcher in dark walnut. Nice and tight, fabric is good. In excellent vintage condition...
Category
1980s English Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Fabric, Walnut
Jens Risom Mid Century 10 Foot Walnut Dining Table
By Jens Risom
Located in Countryside, IL
Jens Risom Mid Century 10 Foot Walnut Dining Table
This dining table measures: 119.25 wide x 48 deep x 30 inches high, with a chair clearance of 28.5 inches
All pieces of furniture...
Category
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Walnut
Mid Century Upholstered Stool, Footrest, 1960, Czechoslovakia
Located in Prague 8, CZ
This stool/footrest was made in the former Czechoslovakia in the 1960´s.
It´s made of beech wood and it´s upholstered in fabric. Showing signs of age and using, the fabric is torn...
Category
Mid-20th Century Czech Mid-Century Modern Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Fabric, Wood, Beech
Mid Century Modern Jens Risom Floating Top Walnut Bench/Table
By Jens Risom
Located in Wilmington, DE
Mid Century Modern Jens Risom Floating Top Walnut Bench Table
This is a bench(we have two matching stools that accomodates this bench being sold seperately). The bench is quite uni...
Category
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Walnut
Rare Early Walnut Bench or Coffee Table by Risom
By Jens Risom
Located in Rockaway, NJ
Very nice solid walnut bench or coffee table by Risom.
Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Jens Risom Furniture
Mid-Century Modern Danish Footstool with Woven Paper Cord Seat, 1960
Located in Port Jervis, NY
Fabulous footstool from Denmark with a teak frame and a woven papercord seat. In very good condition with some water stains on the seat.
Category
1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Papercord, Teak
Jens Risom Walnut Armchairs Reupholstered In Your Fabric
By Jens Risom
Located in Atlanta, GA
Pair of Clean Lined Mid Century Modern Armchairs, designed by Jens Risom, American, circa 1960s. These chairs are currently being reupholstered and can be completed in your fabric. S...
Category
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Upholstery, Wood, Walnut
Solid Walnut and Leather Lounge Chairs by Gunlocke, Jens Risom Style
By Gunlocke, Jens Risom
Located in Buffalo, NY
Matched Pair Classic Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs in solid walnut and leather manufactcured by W.H.Gunlock Company. designed in the manner of Jens Risom. Beautiful color..superio...
Category
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Leather, Walnut
Vintage Jens Risom Danish Modern Armchair Model C-170, 1960s
By Jens Risom
Located in Round Rock, TX
A solid walnut armchair designed by Jens Risom.
Architectural in design, with clean lines and sculpted armrests. Would function well as a desk chair or side chair.
Offered in...
Category
Mid-20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Upholstery, Walnut
Previously Available Items
Mid-Century Modern Jens Risom Armchair, New Charcoal Black Boucle Upholstery
By Jens Risom
Located in Asheville, NC
Mid-Century Modern sculpted solid walnut lounge chair designed by Jens Risom. New foam and charcoal black boucle upholstery. Some scuffing/scratching to the chair arms and legs from ...
Category
1950s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Bouclé, Upholstery, Walnut
H 32.25 in W 23.5 in D 23.5 in
Jens Risom Leather Swivel Chair for B.L Marble, 1960's
By B.L. Marble Chair Co., Jens Risom
Located in Round Rock, TX
A wonderful vintage button tufted leather chair designed by Jens Risom and manufactured by B.L. Marble.
Featuring black leather upholstery that has developed a wonderful patina ov...
Category
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Metal
Jens Risom for Knoll Black Lacquered Dining or Game Table, Newly Refinished
By Knoll, Jens Risom
Located in South Bend, IN
A sleek and stylish black lacquered walnut Mid-Century Modern dining or game table
By Jens Risom for Knoll
USA, 20th century
Measures: 57" W x 34" D x 28.5" H. Knee clearance: 23....
Category
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Walnut, Lacquer
H 28.5 in W 57 in D 34 in
Jens Risom for Knoll Mid-Century Modern Black Lacquered Side Tables, Pair
By Knoll, Jens Risom
Located in South Bend, IN
A gorgeous pair of Mid-Century Modern style black lacquered side tables
By Jens Risom for Knoll
USA, 20th century
Measures: 18" W x 18" D x 20" H.
Good original vintage c...
Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Wood, Lacquer
Jens Risom Mid-Century Modern Black Lacquered Game Table, Newly Refinished
By Jens Risom
Located in South Bend, IN
A sleek and stylish Mid-Century Modern black lacquered walnut game table or center table
By Jens Risom
USA, circa 1960s
Measures: 36" W x 36" D x 26" H.
Newly refinished....
Category
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Walnut, Lacquer
Rare Jens Risom Leather Executive Chair for Jens Risom Design Inc.
By Jens Risom
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This an extremely rare Jens Risom high back executive armchair for Jens Risom design Inc. It features incredibly smooth black leather upholstery with a beautiful shiny patina and a m...
Category
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Metal
Vintage 1960s Black Leather Swivel Chair by Jens Risom for B.L. Marble Company
By Jens Risom
Located in San Antonio, TX
This vintage black leather chair by Jens Risom for B. L. Marble Company is in overall good condition. Original leather, distressed, gorgeous patina with cracks, but no tears. Aluminu...
Category
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Aluminum
H 31.5 in W 24 in D 22 in
Jens Risom for Knoll Black Lacquered Dining or Game Table, Newly Refinished
By Knoll, Jens Risom
Located in South Bend, IN
A sleek and stylish Mid-Century Modern dining or game table
Designed by Jens Risom for Knoll
USA, 20th century
Walnut and black lacquer
Measures: 57" W x 34" D x 28.5" H....
Category
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Walnut, Lacquer
H 28.5 in W 57 in D 34 in
Pair of Black Weaved Strapped Jens Risom Lounge Chairs for Knoll
By Knoll, Jens Risom
Located in Houston, TX
Pair of black strap weaved Jens Risom lounge chairs for Knoll. The chair was manufactured in the 1960s. The chair comes as a pair.
Category
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Jens Risom Furniture
Materials
Fabric, Wood
Jens Risom Six Foot Floating Bench
By Jens Risom
Located in Middlesex, NJ
Jens Risom six foot floating bench.
Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Jens Risom Furniture
Jens Risom Smaller Walnut Credenza
By Jens Risom
Located in Cincinnati, OH
A smaller scale medium toned walnut two sliding door credenza with two adjustable shelves and inset round pulls. Manufactured by the Risom Furniture Design Inc. A great size for a ti...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Jens Risom Furniture
Jens Risom Walnut Credenza or Server
By Jens Risom
Located in Cincinnati, OH
A dark walnut two-drawer and three door credenza with matching wooden pulls, stainless hinges and stainless adjustable foot pads. Finished to the backside with the same well grained ...
Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Jens Risom Furniture
Jens Risom furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
Jens Risom furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of wood and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Jens Risom furniture, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. We have 323 vintage editions of these items in-stock, while there is 5 modern edition to choose from as well. Many of the original furniture by Jens Risom were created in the mid-century modern style in north america during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider furniture by Fredericia, Florence Knoll, and Craft Associates. Prices for Jens Risom furniture can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $350 and can go as high as $35,000, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $4,213.
Creators Similar to Jens Risom
Questions About Jens Risom Furniture
- Who is Jens Risom?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Jens Risom was a Danish designer. Many people credit him with bringing the modern style of Scandinavian design to the U.S. He is well-known for his chairs, which feature angled seat backs often upholstered with webbing. On 1stDibs, find a selection of Jens Risom furniture.
- Was Jens Risom Danish?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Yes, Jens Risom was Danish. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on May 8, 1916, and attended Copenhagen School of Industrial Arts and Design. Following his graduation, Risom moved to the U.S., where he lived for the rest of his life. On 1stDibs, find a collection of Jens Risom furniture.
- Who sells Jens Risom rockers?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Normally, vintage furniture dealers or auction and online platforms specializing in authentic vintage furniture sell Jens Risom rockers. From time to time, rocking chairs produced by the Danish designer may appear at thrift shops and secondhand stores or be available directly from individuals who own them. On 1stDibs, find a selection of Jens Risom chairs.