Tom Dixon Furniture
Artistic, innovative and entrepreneurial, the self-taught creator Tom Dixon has been a contemporary design-world maverick for more than three decades. From his revolutionary art-meets-design projects of the 1980s and throughout his dynamic and influential career as a designer of furniture, housewares and interiors, the only consistent note has been change. Dixon’s chief fascination is exploring new materials and new ways of constructing things.
Dixon was restless even as a young man. He enjoyed ceramics and drawing in high school but later dropped out of the Chelsea School of Art in London. While repairing his motorcycle in 1983, Dixon learned how to weld and took to the craft. He began making what he has called semi-functional objects from scrap metal (sometime as performance art in a nightclub), then formed a furniture studio–cum–think tank called Creative Salvage. Amid the ritzy excess of the ’80s, Dixon — along with designers such as Tejo Remy and Ron Arad — forged a new, attention-getting aesthetic with furniture made from found materials.
In 1987, Dixon began working for the Italian furniture manufacturer Cappellini, which put his best-known design, the slender, sinuous S chair, into production, followed by such pieces as the Pylon chair (1992), a wire lattice that resembles electrical transmission towers. Starting in the 1990s, Dixon expanded his interests rapidly. He started a company to manufacture the stackable plastic Jack light; joined the housewares retailer Habitat as creative director; and breathed new life into Artek, the venerable Finnish maker that Alvar Aalto and his wife Aino helped cofound. Since 2002, Dixon has run his namesake company fabricating furnishings from novel materials like brass foil-clad wood and “vacuum-metalized” glass.
The hallmark of Dixon’s design is his captivation with the process of creating pieces such as chairs, tables and lighting fixtures. “A kind friend once described me as a ‘vertebrate designer,’” Dixon has said. “That means that I design from the bones outwards and am not really interested in surface.”
Classic Dixon pieces are those that exhibit the manner of their making — from his early work in welded scrap metal to the woven rattan seats and backs of his Fat chair for Cappellini. There are two ways to approach Dixon designs: as a collector, or as a decorator. The former will seek Dixon’s one-off and limited edition works and prototypes. These historical artifacts carry high prices that range from around $8,000 to $50,000 and above. Those more interested in a dynamic look will find that manufactured Dixon designs — such as his Jack lights or his Melt pendant — can be found for prices that range from about $300 to $1,000. Either way, as you will see on 1stDibs, the designs of Tom Dixon have a singular allure that makes them a noteworthy element in any room.
1990s British Post-Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Rope
21st Century and Contemporary English Brutalist Tom Dixon Furniture
Polystyrene
2010s Indian Tom Dixon Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Iron
1980s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Tom Dixon Furniture
Bamboo, Rattan
Early 2000s British Tom Dixon Furniture
Plastic
1980s Vintage Tom Dixon Furniture
Metal
1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Tom Dixon Furniture
Metal
Early 2000s British Mid-Century Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Art Glass
Late 20th Century European Tom Dixon Furniture
Rattan
2010s French Tom Dixon Furniture
Plastic
Early 2000s British Bauhaus Tom Dixon Furniture
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Steel
1990s English Post-Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Iron
20th Century English Mid-Century Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Beech, Oak, Upholstery
1980s English Modern Vintage Tom Dixon Furniture
Steel
Late 20th Century British Tribal Tom Dixon Furniture
Iron
2010s British Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Bouclé
Early 2000s British Futurist Tom Dixon Furniture
Polystyrene
2010s British Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Velvet
1990s British Tom Dixon Furniture
Metal, Steel
Early 2000s Italian Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Glass
2010s Lithuanian Tom Dixon Furniture
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Indian Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Minimalist Tom Dixon Furniture
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary British Tom Dixon Furniture
Oak, Ash, Walnut
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Iron
1980s Italian Modern Vintage Tom Dixon Furniture
Ceramic, Majolica
1990s Italian Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Stainless Steel
1980s Japanese Vintage Tom Dixon Furniture
Metal
1980s Italian Vintage Tom Dixon Furniture
Wicker
1980s Italian Vintage Tom Dixon Furniture
Metal
1990s German Post-Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Plastic
Early 2000s European Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Rubber
21st Century and Contemporary Lithuanian Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Oak
1980s Vintage Tom Dixon Furniture
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Oak
1980s British Modern Vintage Tom Dixon Furniture
Steel
1980s Vintage Tom Dixon Furniture
Metal
1990s European Mid-Century Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Metal
1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Tom Dixon Furniture
Iron
1980s European Bohemian Vintage Tom Dixon Furniture
Plastic
Tom Dixon furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
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- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022Tom Dixon originally created the S chair in the mid-1980s. The chair is characterized by its welded steel frame and woven rush upholstery. Shop a collection of Tom Dixon’s designs from some of the world’s top sellers on 1stDibs.