Poltrona 'Elda' Joe Colombo per Comfort, 1965

About the Item
- Creator:Comfort, Italy (Manufacturer),Joe Colombo (Designer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 35.83 in (91 cm)Width: 38.59 in (98 cm)Depth: 37.8 in (96 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:1965
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Milano, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1721234890592
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: Milan, Italy
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 10 days of delivery.
- Lampada 'Spider' Joe Colombo per O-Luce, anni 80By Oluce, Joe ColomboLocated in Milano, ITLampada da tavolo con morsetto, metallo cromato, alluminio smaltato. Buone condizioni.Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal, Aluminum
- Poltrona '877' Gianfranco Frattini per CassinaBy Gianfranco Frattini, CassinaLocated in Milano, ITArmchair with teak structure, foam padding, velvet covering.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsVelvet, Foam, Teak
- Poltrona 'Patrizia' Gianni Moscatelli per Formanova Anni 70By Gianni Moscatelli, FormanovaLocated in Milano, ITPoltrona con rotelle con imbottitura in espanso, rivestimento in velluto e fascia in alluminio cromato.Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Poltrona Anni 50, in faggio tinto e tessuto florealeBy Non-Standard Furniture and LightingLocated in Milano, ITPoltrona con struttura in legno di faggio tinto a vista, imbottitura in espanso, rivestimento in tessuto. Una Poltrona da rivisitare per renderla adatta ad un ambiente con una zona ...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsFabric, Beech
- Poltrona Vintage Anni 40-50 Legno di Faggio TintoBy Non-Standard Furniture and LightingLocated in Milano, ITPoltrona con imbottitura a molle e cuscino in piuma, rivestimento in tessuto e gambe in legno di faggio tinto.Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsFabric, Beech, Feathers
- cinque poltroncine 'Poney' Gianni Moscatelli per Formanova Anni 60-70, rosseBy Gianni Moscatelli, FormanovaLocated in Milano, ITGruppo di 5 poltroncine girevoli modello 'Poney' con base in metallo cromato, imbottitura in espanso e rivestimento in tessuto originale del periodo. Discrete condizioni, imbottitura...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsMetal
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Joe Colombo for Comfort Lounge Chair 'Elda' in Red Leather and FiberglassBy Comfort, Italy, Joe ColomboLocated 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
- Armchair Elda by Joe Colombo for Comfort 1963By Joe ColomboLocated in PARIS, FRElda is the first armchair to use large surfaces of fiberglass, reinforced with plastic. Its design was created in 1963 and began to be published in 1965 by the editor Comfort then ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Fiberglass
- Joe Colombo Swivel "Elda" Italian Lounge ChairBy Comfort, Italy, Joe ColomboLocated in Vienna, ATLounge chair designed by Joe Colombo (1930-1971) in 1963 model "Elda"for Comfort. Made of fiberglass structure reupholstered with ivory Dedar bouclé fabric which make it very unique....Category
Vintage 1960s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsBouclé, Fiberglass