Golden Limited Edition Elda Chair by Joe Colombo for Longhi Italy no. 7/20
About the Item
- Creator:Joe Colombo (Artist)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 36.23 in (92 cm)Width: 36.23 in (92 cm)Depth: 36.23 in (92 cm)
- Style:Space Age (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:2023
- Production Type:New & Custom(Limited Edition)
- Estimated Production Time:8-9 weeks
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Stavenisse, NL
- Reference Number:
Elda Armchair
With its bulbous fiberglass shell and plush leather cushions, the Elda chair looks as if it belongs on a big-budget 1970s-era film set. That’s just where you’ll find it — the piece made its feature-film debut in the 1977 James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me. The chair was created by Cesare "Joe" Colombo (1930–71), an Italian artist-turned-industrial-designer known for his retro-futuristic works. Colombo started his career as an artist, studying painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan before he went on to study architecture at the Polytechnic University. Throughout the 1950s, Colombo found a home within the Abstract Expressionist movement, creating paintings and sculptures that were exhibited throughout Europe.
Colombo’s focus shifted to design when he took over his family business, an electrical appliance manufacturing company, where he experimented with industrial production techniques. In 1962, he opened his own architecture and design firm. With a focus on futuristic living systems inspired by the technological advances of the space race, Colombo created everything from air-conditioning units to dinnerware to furniture, most famously the 1963 Elda chair.
Named after Colombo’s wife, the Elda chair was designed to wholly surround its sitter, as if it were hugging them. The designer envisioned the chair to be a place of comfort in the home from which you could use digital technology to connect with the world — as it turns out, Colombo had impressive foresight. A year following his death, Colombo’s design work was included in the 1972 exhibition “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Joe Colombo
He died tragically young, and his career as a designer lasted little more than 10 years. But through the 1960s, Joe Colombo proved himself one of the field’s most provocative and original thinkers, and he produced a remarkably large array of innovative furniture, lighting and product designs. Even today, the creations of Joe Colombo have the power to surprise.
Cesare “Joe” Colombo was born in Milan, the son of an electrical-components manufacturer. He was a creative child — he loved to build huge structures from Meccano pieces — and in college he studied painting and sculpture before switching to architecture. In the early 1950s, Colombo made and exhibited paintings and sculptures as part of an art movement that responded to the new Nuclear Age, and futuristic thinking would inform his entire career. He took up design not long after his father fell ill in 1958, and he and his brother, Gianni, were called upon to run the family company. Colombo expanded the business to include the making of plastics — a primary material in almost all his later designs. One of his first, made in collaboration with his brother, was the Acrilica table lamp (1962), composed of a wave-shaped piece of clear acrylic resin that diffused light cast by a bulb concealed in the lamp’s metal base. A year later, Colombo produced his best-known furniture design, the Elda armchair (1963): a modernist wingback chair with a womb-like plastic frame upholstered in thick leather pads.
Portability and adaptability were keynotes of many Colombo designs, made for a more mobile society in which people would take their living environments with them. One of his most striking pieces is the Tube chair (1969). It comprises four foam-padded plastic cylinders that fit inside one another. The components, which are held together by metal clips, can be configured in a variety of seating shapes. Tube chairs generally sell for about $9,000 in good condition; Elda chairs for about $7,000. A small Colombo design such as the plastic Boby trolley — an office organizer on wheels, designed in 1970 — is priced in the range of $700. As Colombo intended, his designs are best suited to a modern decor. As you see on 1stDibs, if your tastes run to sleek, glossy Space Age looks, the work of Joe Colombo offers you a myriad of choices.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Stavenisse, Netherlands
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Cognac leather and white Elda chair by Joe Colombo for Longhi ItalyBy Joe ColomboLocated in Stavenisse, NLWhat more can be said about this iconic design by Joe Colombo that hasn’t been said before? A design far ahead of its time, on the verge of space age and modernism. Colombo was able...Category
2010s Italian Space Age Armchairs
MaterialsMetal
- Iconic 877 Wingback Armchair by Gianfranco Frattini for Cassina 1959By Gianfranco FrattiniLocated in Stavenisse, NLThe 877 Wingback armchair is an absolute classic. Appreciated at large by the design world, this iconic armchair was designed in 1959 by Gianfranco Frattini. The chair offers both th...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Walnut
- PLR1 Luar lounge chair by Ross Littell for ICF De Padova Italy 1960s, set of 2By Ross LittellLocated in Stavenisse, NLRoss F. Littell (July 14, 1924 – April 17, 2000) was an American textile and furniture designer known for his practical, innovative, and minimalist style as part of the good design movement of the 1950s. His three-legged T-chair, designed in 1952 with William Katavolos and Douglas Kelley, is part of several permanent museum collections. Littell, born and raised in Los Angeles, attended the Art Center School in Los Angeles and finished his education with honour in 1946. In 1947, he was awarded a scholarship to study in Italy. It was during these period that Littell became increasingly interested in architecture and design. In 1949 Littell formed a partnership with William Katavolos and Douglas Kelley. During their six-year partnership, they designed furniture, along with textiles and dinnerware, for Laverne Originals in New York, using materials such as leather, glass, chrome, and marble. In a later stage Littell did work autonomously as well for several furniture companies, mostly for Knoll International and Herman Miller. An interesting fact is that the PLR1 lounge chair, designed in 1965, was actually designed for Herman Miller. ICF, an Italian manufacturer from Milan, produced a lot of Herman Miller designs for the Italian market in license, and started producing the PLR1 as well for the Italian market but only for the De Padova shop, a luxury chain of design furniture shops in Italy with a strong emphasis on Scandinavian design. Hence, the PLR1 has therefore a very interesting history. Rendered in slick chromed steel and beige fabric straps, the chair is a particularly stylish take on a slipper chair with a low, angled seat and curvy frame extending into two trestle legs that extend far out horizontally. The four protective feet are deliberately blocky plastic cubes...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Space Age Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- PLR1 Luar lounge chair by Ross Littell for ICF De Padova Italy 1960s, set of 2By Ross LittellLocated in Stavenisse, NLRoss F. Littell (July 14, 1924 – April 17, 2000) was an American textile and furniture designer known for his practical, innovative, and minimalist style as part of the good design m...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Space Age Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- Oak and wicker Fireside armchair by Charles Dudouyt France 1950s, set of 2By Charles DudouytLocated in Stavenisse, NLA fantastic set of Fireside chairs by Charles Dudouyt in sculpted oak and wicker. The set is in typical Dudouyt fashion with the conical-shaped feet, going all the way up in one pie...Category
Vintage 1950s French Rustic Armchairs
MaterialsWicker, Oak
- Hyaline leather and glass armchair by Fabio Lenci for Stendig Italy 1960s, set 2By Fabio LenciLocated in Stavenisse, NLItalian space age design by Fabio Lenci, the Hyaline (pronounced as “Hay’Line) chairs are a prime example of Italian design of the time period. The thick leather rolls are interconn...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Space Age Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Glass
- NEW Elda Chair by Joe Colombo for Longhi, ItalyBy Joe Colombo, LonghiLocated in Alsdorf, NWIn 1964, Joe Colombo designed the Elda fibreglass armchair for Comfort - it has been produced unchanged in Italy ever since. We have currently Elda chairs in stock. They are immedi...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Post-Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Fiberglass
- NEW Elda Chair by Joe Colombo for Longhi, Italy in white & taupeBy Joe Colombo, LonghiLocated in Alsdorf, NWIn 1964, Joe Colombo designed the Elda fibreglass armchair for Comfort - it has been produced unchanged in Italy ever since. We have currently Elda chairs in stock. They are immedi...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Post-Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Fiberglass
- NEW Cognac Elda Chair by Joe Colombo for Longhi, ItalyLocated in Alsdorf, NWIn 1964, Joe Colombo designed the Elda fibreglass armchair for Comfort - it has been produced unchanged in Italy ever since. We have currently Elda chairs in stock. They are immedi...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Fiberglass
- Elda Chair by Joe ColomboBy Joe ColomboLocated in Porto, PTElda Chaie designed in 1963 by Joe Colombo. produced in Italy. It was considered very futuristic for its time. The structure - Fiberglass white shell rotates on a 360 ° swivel base,...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Fiberglass
- Elda Chair by Joe ColomboBy Joe ColomboLocated in Dorchester, MADesigned by Joe Colombo in 1965 (and named for his wife), the iconic Elda Chair marries a powerful Space Age frame of fiberglass with deep channeled cushion...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Swivel Chairs
MaterialsFiberglass, Upholstery
- Elda Lounge Chair by Joe Colombo for Comfort, Italy, 1960sBy Comfort, Italy, Joe ColomboLocated in Lasne, BESwivel armchair in red leather and white shell. Seat height 40cm. Wear due to time and age.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsMetal