Verner Panton Seating
Verner Panton introduced the word “groovy” — or at least its Danish equivalent — into the Scandinavian modern design lexicon. He developed fantastical, futuristic forms and embraced bright colors and new materials such as plastic, fabric-covered polyurethane foam and steel-wire framing for the creation of his chairs, sofas, floor lamps and other furnishings. And Panton’s ebullient Pop art sensibility made him an international design star of the 1960s and ’70s. This radical departure from classic Danish modernism, however, actually stemmed from his training under the greats of that design style.
Born on the largely rural Danish island of Funen, Panton studied architecture and engineering at Copenhagen’s Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, where the lighting designer Poul Henningsen was one of his teachers. After graduating, in 1951, Panton worked in the architectural office of Arne Jacobsen, and he became a close friend of Hans Wegner's.
Henningsen taught a scientific approach to design; Jacobsen was forever researching new materials; and Wegner, the leader in modern furniture design using traditional woodworking and joinery, encouraged experimental form. Panton opened his own design office in 1955, issuing tubular steel chairs with woven seating. His iconoclastic aesthetic was announced with his 1958 Cone chair, modified a year later as the Heart Cone chair. Made of upholstered sheet metal and with a conical base in place of legs, the design shocked visitors to a Copenhagen furniture fair.
Panton went on to successive bravura technical feats. His curving, stackable 1960 Panton chair, his most popular design, was the first chair to be made from a single piece of molded plastic. Three years later, he introduced the S model, the first legless chair crafted from a single piece of plywood, cantilevered on a round metal base.
Panton would spend the latter 1960s and early ’70s developing all-encompassing room environments composed of sinuous and fluid-formed modular seating made of foam and metal wire. He also created a series of remarkable lighting designs, most notably his Fun chandeliers — introduced in 1964 and composed of scores of shimmering capiz-shell disks — and the Space Age VP Globe pendant light of 1969.
Panton’s designs are made to stand out and put an eye-catching exclamation point on even the most modern decor.
Find vintage Verner Panton chairs, magazine racks, rugs, table lamps and other furniture on 1stDibs.
1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Steel
1970s German Space Age Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Plastic
20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Verner Panton Seating
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Seating
Stainless Steel
Late 20th Century Danish Space Age Verner Panton Seating
Fabric
1960s Swiss Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Plastic
1960s Swiss Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Plastic
1960s Swiss Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Plastic
1970s Danish Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Metal
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Seating
Metal
1970s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Steel
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Verner Panton Seating
Fabric
1970s European Space Age Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Seating
Stainless Steel
1970s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Chrome
1970s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Metal
1970s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Steel
1950s German Modern Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Wood
1970s Danish Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Seating
Metal
1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Fabric
1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Metal
Early 2000s European Post-Modern Verner Panton Seating
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Seating
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Seating
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Seating
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Seating
Metal
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Verner Panton Seating
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Seating
Fabric
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Faux Leather, Plywood, Foam
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Seating
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Seating
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Seating
Fabric
1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Polyester
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Seating
1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Polyester
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Seating
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Modern Verner Panton Seating
1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Chrome
1970s Danish Space Age Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Wool
1960s German Space Age Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Fiberglass
1970s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Wood, Fabric
1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Metal
1970s European Post-Modern Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Mid-Century Modern Verner Panton Seating
Fabric, Wood
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Plastic
1970s German Scandinavian Modern Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Fabric, Wood
Late 20th Century Danish Post-Modern Verner Panton Seating
Steel
1990s Danish Modern Verner Panton Seating
Plastic
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Verner Panton Seating
Steel
1970s Danish Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Metal
Mid-20th Century Danish Scandinavian Modern Verner Panton Seating
Metal
1950s Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Leather, Beech
Late 20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Verner Panton Seating
Foam, Paint
1970s Danish Space Age Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Steel, Chrome
1970s Swiss Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Plastic
1970s German Space Age Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Plastic
1970s Danish Vintage Verner Panton Seating
Fabric