Original 1960s Joe Colombo Elda Lounge Chair for Comfort, Italy
View Similar Items
Original 1960s Joe Colombo Elda Lounge Chair for Comfort, Italy
About the Item
- Creator:Comfort, Italy (Manufacturer),Joe Colombo (Designer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 35.44 in (90 cm)Diameter: 36.62 in (93 cm)Seat Height: 15.75 in (40 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1970s
- Condition:Minor fading. Superb original condition. No signs of use - not one scratch! Used as a sculptural feature rather than a chair. Some sun-fading of fabric. Foam cushioning retains full "bounce". Non-smoker, no pets, very neat German estate.
- Seller Location:Grand Cayman, KY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU5587225401002
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.
- X Lounge Chair by Joachim Nees for InterprofilBy Interprofil, Joachim NeesLocated in Grand Cayman, KYThe highly awarded, sleek and functional X Chair by Joachim Nees for Interprofil, Germany. Silver painted metal frame with black leather upholstered seat and green fabric upholstere...Category
Late 20th Century German Post-Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Original Shadow Armchair by Gaetano Pesce for Meritalia, Postmodern IconBy Meritalia, Michel Ducaroy, Ligne Roset, Gaetano PesceLocated in Grand Cayman, KYShadow armchair by Gaetano Pesce for Meritalia is a highly collectible iconic masterpiece of Post Modern Design. The chair "deconstructed". Designed a...Category
Early 2000s Italian Post-Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Upholstery, Latex, Resin
- Pair of Swiss Reclining Black Leather and Chrome Strässle Chairs by EichenbergerBy Le Corbusier, Marcel Breuer, Strässle International, Hans EichenbergerLocated in Grand Cayman, KYMid-Century Modern pair of high-back reclining chairs in black leather and chromed tubed steel. Made in Switzerland by Strässle International and designed by Hans Eichenberger. Both ...Category
Mid-20th Century Swiss Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
$3,974 Sale Price / set38% Off - Pair of Amanta Lounges by Mario Bellini for B&B Italia in Original UpholsteryBy B&B Italia, Mario BelliniLocated in Grand Cayman, KYSet of 2 iconic Organic Modern Amanta lounges by Mario Bellini for B&B Italia. Brown zig-zag fiberglass shell houses seating upholstered in a very particul...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Organic Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Fiberglass
$2,476 Sale Price / set20% Off - Pair of Gigi Radice Club / Lounge Armchairs for Minotti, 1950s Italy, Red FabricBy Gigi Radice, Ico Parisi, Gio Ponti, MinottiLocated in Grand Cayman, KYPair of original Mid-Century Modern Italian armchairs designed by Luigi (Gigi) Radice for Minotti, Italy in the 1950s. A design that defined an important period of Italian design, it...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBrass
- Zanotta Onda Pair of Armchairs in Blue Leather by De Pas, D'urbinoBy Gionathan de Pas & Donato D’Urbino & Paolo Lomazzi, ZanottaLocated in Grand Cayman, KYDe Pas, D’Urbino and Lomazzi for Zanotta, pair of lounge chairs, model 'Onda', blue leather, chrome, Italy, 1985 Provenance: these chairs were in a C-Suite executive office of an insurance corporation. Very good conditon with only light signs of use, considering age. High quality Italian leather is re-pigmentable to your color of choice. Re-covering is also available. Ask about the options at our atelier. Curved ‘Onda’ lounge chairs by Jonathan de Pas, Donato D'urbino and Paolo Lomazzi. The piece was designed for Zanotta in 1985. The expressive curve of the chairs is emphasized by the vibrant color of the blue leather. The structured and bend tubular chrome makes the piece look nice in a freestanding place. Because of the soft leather, the chair is comfortable to sit in. The leather armchair wrapped in a polished frame contributes to the chair's expressive and vigorous appearance. Jonathan de Pas, Donato D’Urbino and Paolo Lomazzi are three Milanese designers, born in the 1930s. Around 1960, they started working together. With their designs, they wanted to bring forward a new Italian design, contrasting with the International Style...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsChrome
$3,750 Sale Price / set25% Off
- 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
- Elda Lounge Chair by Joe Colombo for Comfort, Italy 1960sBy Comfort, Italy, Joe ColomboLocated in Lasne, BESwivel armchair in beige leather and black shell by Joe Colombo. Elda model. Seat height 38cm. Wear due to time and age of armchair.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Fiberglass
- Joe Colombo for Comfort Lounge Chair 'Elda' in Red Leather and FiberglassBy Joe Colombo, Comfort, ItalyLocated in Waalwijk, NLJoe Colombo for Comfort, lounge chair ‘Elda’, fiberglass, red leather, Italy, design 1963, later production The ‘Elda’ chair is one of the most well-known designs of Italian design...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Post-Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Fiberglass
- Joe Colombo for Comfort Lounge Chair 'Elda' in Brown Leather and FiberglassBy Comfort, Italy, Joe ColomboLocated in Waalwijk, NLJoe Colombo for Comfort, lounge chair ‘Elda’, fiberglass, red leather, Italy, design 1963 The ‘Elda’ chair is one of the most well-known designs of Italian designer Joe Colombo. Thi...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Post-Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Fiberglass
- Joe Colombo "Elda" Chair for Comfort, Italy, 1960sBy Joe ColomboLocated in PEGO, ESThe 'Elda' chair is one of the best-known and iconic designs by Italian designer Joe Colombo. This lounge armchair is one of the first designs to use the new material fiberglass ...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Fiberglass
- Joe Colombo "Elda" Armchair for ComfortBy Comfort, Italy, Joe ColomboLocated in Carpi, ITIntroducing the iconic "Elda" armchair – a marvel of Italian design by Joe Colombo (1930-1971) in 1963. Its avant-garde appeal was truly ahead of its time. Adorned in a sleek grey le...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
These Museum-Worthy Star Armchairs Are Exemplars of 1980s Design
Meticulously crafted in Germany, the limited-edition seat has been acquired by several institutions, including the Met in New York.
We Dare You Not to Smile at These Whimsical Italian Designs
Make anyplace your happy place with Italian furniture at its subversive best.