IKEA ‘Vilbert’ Chair by Verner Panton, 1993, Post-Modern

About the Item

Verner Panton was one of the most influential figures in design history, pushing the boundaries of form and materials in the 1960s and 1970s. Launched in 1993 by IKEA and only in production for 1 year, Verner Panton’s iconic ‘Vilbert’ Chair is the epitome of Post-Modernity. Initially 3000 to 4000 Vilbert chairs were put into store by mass-producer IKEA, but sales were not so good as expected. Many of the chairs were taken out of the stores again, and word goes that chairs were even taken out of production to be destroyed. Nowadays these chairs have become rare items, fetching record prices on auctions. The listed chair is in a wonderful pre-owned condition, it has hardly been used to sit on. It is made from high-quality melamine board, with only slight signs of wear and it still shows the remains of the sticker on the backside. General note: Shipping quotes as supplied by 1stdibs are only indicative. We will discuss and figure out the best possible shipment method (and rate) for every individual object

Creator:
Verner Panton (Designer)
Design:
Vilbert
Dimensions:
Height: 33.08 in (84 cm)Width: 16.15 in (41 cm)Depth: 16.15 in (41 cm)Seat Height: 17.72 in (45 cm)
Style:
Post-Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Wood
Place of Origin:
Sweden
Period:
1990-1999
Date of Manufacture:
1993
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
CULEMBORG, NL
Reference Number:
Seller: IKEA Vilbert1stDibs: LU6829228817872
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Verner Panton

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. 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.

As you will see from the offerings on 1stDibs, Verner Panton’s designs are made to stand out and put an eye-catching exclamation point on even the most modern decor.