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Panton Chair
Iconic Designs

Panton ChairBy Verner Panton

About the Design

Appearing as if it were a three-dimensional brushstroke of paint, the S-shaped Panton chair is just one curved piece of plastic that cantilevers over itself to form a seat. Prior to its development by experimental Danish designer Verner Panton (1926–98), no chair had ever been crafted from a single piece of molded plastic. 

“I want to design furniture that grows up out of the floor,” Panton said of his work. “To turn the furniture into something organic, which never has four legs.” The designer, who studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen before working for Arne Jacobsen’s architecture firm, started experimenting with the concept of single-piece plastic chairs in the late 1950s, drafting sketches of what eventually became his signature eponymous work before creating a full-scale polystyrene model. But he ran into production trouble — no manufacturer would tackle the chair’s challenging engineering problems. Plastic was still a relatively new invention at the time, having been introduced to mass markets in the postwar era when most furniture makers still preferred to work in wood.

Enter Swiss furniture company Vitra, which agreed to take on the project in 1963.

It took four years — and ten prototypes — but Vitra and Panton were ultimately successful, creating a Panton chair made from fiberglass-reinforced polyester. It debuted in Danish design magazine Mobilia in 1967 and then at the 1968 Cologne Furniture Fair. The chair embodied a seductive combination of the era’s popular Space Age and Pop art aesthetics through its undulating form, futuristic material and punchy colors, resulting in mass demand for the relatively affordable piece of furniture. While it was discontinued in 1979 due to durability issues, the chair was reintroduced years later and Vitra has continued to manufacture it, experimenting with materials ranging from polyurethane foam to polypropylene in conjunction with Panton throughout the course of his lifetime. For the chair’s 50th anniversary, Vitra produced limited-edition chrome and glow-in-the-dark models.

The chair has become a celebrity in itself: It was featured on the cover of British Vogue in 1995 — with a nude Kate Moss atop it — and in 2006, it was inducted into the Danish Culture Canon. Numerous design museums hold the chair in their collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Design Museum in London and more. As far as chairs go, particularly those designed during the 1960s and 1970s, there are few better known and more beloved than the Panton.

Panton Chair

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Set of 6 stackable Panton chairs in white lacquered molded ABS
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Set of 6 stackable Panton chairs in white lacquered molded ABS. Publisher's imprint under the seat. Herman Miller edition for Fehlbaum 1971 (except one from 1973). Bibliography: Pete...
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Pair of Panton chairs, Verner Panton for Herman Miller / Felhbaum, Denmark 1970
By Herman Miller, Verner Panton
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Pair of Panton chairs, Verner Panton for Herman Miller / Felhbaum, Denmark 1970
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Vintage 1970s Danish Lounge Chairs

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Verner Panton for Herman Miller Black S-Form Side or Dining Chair Signed
By Verner Panton, Herman Miller
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By design legend Verner Panton, this striking chair is a glimpse into the more radical side of Panton's mind. Between other work for Herman Miller and some for other manufacturers like Fritz Hansen, this chair stands out as the most iconic. The classic S-shaped chair will leave you pleasantly surprised at the comfort and the space your legs have to move about beneath. In classic piano...
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Vintage 1970s American Space Age Chairs

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Pair Verner Panton for Herman Miller Black S-Form Side or Dining Chairs Signed
By Verner Panton, Herman Miller
Located in Philadelphia, PA
By design legend Verner Panton, these striking chairs are a glimpse into the more radical side of Panton's mind. Between other work for Herman Miller and some for other manufacturers like Fritz Hansen, these chairs stand out as the most iconic. The classic S-shape will leave you pleasantly surprised at the comfort and the space your legs have to move about beneath. In classic piano...
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Side Chair by Verner Panton for Herman Miller - Felhbaum, 1971
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Side chair designed by Verner Panton in 1967 for Herman Miller - Fehlbaum production, Germany. This one is stamped in 1971 in black glossy thermoplastic.
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Panton Chair by Verner Panton for Herman Miller / Fehlbaum, in white 1976
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Panton S-Chair, designed by Verner Panton for Hermann Miller / Fehlbaum. Color: white. The chair is from the 2nd production run from 1970 onwards in thermoplastic luran-s with reinfo...
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MCM Panton Junior PAIR of Kids Chairs by Verner Panton Vitra, Turquoise + Orange
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FREE fast shipping. Panton Junior Chairs, Pair-- in Turquoise and Orange-- Rare colors, no longer produced. Verner Panton, 1959/2006 The Panton J...
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Verner Panton for Vitra Glow Panton Chair, Luminescent, White, Blue, Limited Ed
By Verner Panton, Vitra
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...
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Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs

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Verner Panton "Panton Chair" 6 Original Chairs Edition Herman Miller circa 1960
By Herman Miller, Verner Panton
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Verner Panton "Panton chair" 6 original chairs edition Herman Miller in enamelled fiberglass circa 1960 repainted a few years ago. original color: white wear and minor losses.
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