Verner Panton Set of 5 Black Gloss Fiberglass Chairs "S" for Vitra, 1960
View Similar Items
Verner Panton Set of 5 Black Gloss Fiberglass Chairs "S" for Vitra, 1960
About the Item
- Creator:Verner Panton (Designer),Vitra (Manufacturer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 32.68 in (83 cm)Width: 18.9 in (48 cm)Depth: 22.84 in (58 cm)Seat Height: 15.75 in (40 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 5
- 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:The Hague, NL
- Reference Number:Seller: 25-03-02021stDibs: LU2448320248172
Panton Chair
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.
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.
- Martin Visser Set of 4 Dinning Room Chairs for T' Spectrum, 1960 NetherlandsBy 't Spectrum, Martin VisserLocated in The Hague, NLMid- Century modern period very famous Dutch furniture designer Martin Visser designed these chairs for t' Spectrum in 1960s period, Netherlands. The set of 4 chairs are in a great ...Category
Vintage 1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsRattan, Wenge
- Charles & Ray Eames Black Original Plywood Group LCM Chair for Vitra, 1999By Vitra, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in The Hague, NLLounge chair designed by Charles and Ray Eames for Vitra, 1999. The Vitra LCM Chair, designed by Charles and Ray Eames, is the result of years of experiment...Category
1990s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Niels Otto Moller Set of 4 Dining Chairs Model-84 for Højbjerg, Denmark 1970sBy Højbjerg & Møller, Niels Otto MøllerLocated in The Hague, NLMid Century Modern period set of 4 dining chairs designed by Niels Otto Møller in the 1970s and produced by J.L. Møller in Denmark. These chairs are made of solid beech wooden frame...Category
Vintage 1970s Danish Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Beech
- Charles & Ray Eames "DSS" Black Dinning Room Chairs For Herman Miller, 1974By Herman Miller, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in The Hague, NLMid- Century modern period stackable dinning room chairs designed by famous furniture designers Charles & Ray Eames for Herman Miller in 1970's cir...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- "DKR-2" Set of 4 Wire Chairs 'Bikini' by Eames for Herman Miller, 1960By Herman Miller, Charles and Ray EamesLocated in The Hague, NLSet of 4 "model DKR-2" chairs were designed in the 1950s by Ray & Charles Eames for Herman Miller and produced by Vitra. In 1951, Charles and Ray Eames met the challenge of making a...Category
Vintage 1960s Central American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsChrome
- Verner Panton Original "Relaxer 2" Rocking Chair by Rosenthal, 1970sBy Verner Panton, RosenthalLocated in The Hague, NLMid-Century Modern rocking chair " Relaxer II " by famous Danish designer Verner Panton and manufactured by Rosenthal Einrichtung in Germany, 1970s. The chair is in original condi...Category
Vintage 1970s Danish Mid-Century Modern Rocking Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Wood
- Panton Chair by Verner Panton for Vitra, 1959By Verner Panton, VitraLocated in Neuss, NWTimeless cantilever Panton Chair by Vitra made of high-quality polypropylene in white. Draft by Verner Panton in 1959. Quality Features: accomplished design: perfect proportions...Category
Vintage 1950s Swiss Chairs
MaterialsPlastic
- Verner Panton for Vitra Glow Panton Chair, Luminescent, White, Blue, Limited EdBy Verner Panton, VitraLocated in Brooklyn, NYVerner 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...Category
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsPlastic
- Mid-century Modern Green Panton Chairs by Verner Panton for VitraBy Verner Panton, VitraLocated in London, GBThe Panton chair was designed by Verner Panton in 1960 and developed for production with Vitra in 1967, making history as the first chair to be manufactured in a single piece from plastic. The most recent iteration was created in 1999 and the design has maintained its cult design...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Chairs
MaterialsPlastic
- Verner Panton Cone Heart Chair for Vitra, 2 in StockBy Vitra, Verner PantonLocated in Los Angeles, CAThis classic and distinctive red heart cone chair was designed by Verner Panton in 1958. Verner Panton was an influential designer during the 1960's and 70's. His masterful use of co...Category
Early 2000s German Post-Modern Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
$4,500 / item - Mid-Century Dining Chairs by Verner Panton for Reupholstering Set of 4By Verner Panton, ThonetLocated in BROOKLYN, NYVery rare set of (4) four Mid-Century high-back chairs designed by Verner Panton. Tubular metal frame with original upholstery (also deigned by Verner Panton). Produced for a short p...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Design Classic Verner Panton Cone Chairs, Vitra, 2000sBy Vitra, Verner PantonLocated in Renens, CHOriginally designed by Verner Panton in the late 1950s for use in a restaurant, the Cone Chair soon became one of his most recognizable designs; Whether it is the simplicity of the...Category
Early 2000s German Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsMetal
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
A Short History of the World’s Most Iconic Designs
Of the million-plus items on 1stdibs, some seem to have transcended time, looking as fresh today as when they were first produced. The pieces highlighted on our new Iconic Designs page stand out for longevity, functionality and quality of design and manufacture — just the tonic for the present unsettled moment.
113 Chairs That Prove Danish Design Isn’t Limited to Denmark
In an innovative display, the Designmuseum Danmark is permanently exhibiting the 20th century's most iconic seats.