Elda Swivel Lounge Chair by Joe Colombo
View Similar Items
Elda Swivel Lounge Chair by Joe Colombo
About the Item
- Creator:Joe Colombo (Designer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 36 in (91.44 cm)Width: 37 in (93.98 cm)Depth: 42 in (106.68 cm)Seat Height: 16 in (40.64 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2969324870492
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.
- Bacharach Teddy Swivel ChairBy Jonathan AdlerLocated in New York, NYLouche glamour. Think Halston, think Studio 54, think sybaritic style. But also think cozy, comfy swivel chair. Upholstered in ivory teddy with an architectural antiqued brass swivel...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Swivel Chairs
MaterialsBrass
$2,995 / item - Bacharach Champagne Velvet Swivel ChairBy Jonathan AdlerLocated in New York, NYLouche glamour. Think Halston, think Studio 54, think sybaritic style. But also think cozy, comfy swivel chair. Upholstered in luxurious blush Como Champagne velvet...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Swivel Chairs
MaterialsBrass
$2,995 / item - Bacharach Reef Velvet Swivel ChairBy Jonathan AdlerLocated in New York, NYLouche glamour. Think Halston, think Studio 54, think sybaritic style. But also think cozy, comfy swivel chair. Upholstered in inky blue Rialto Reef velvet with an architectural brus...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Swivel Chairs
MaterialsStainless Steel
$2,995 / item - Channeled Goldfinger Lounge ChairBy Jonathan AdlerLocated in New York, NYShock Waves. Minimalist comfort gets a modernist makeover—we've taken our definition of leaned-back luxury to the next level with our Channeled Goldfinger Lounge Chair...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBrass
$2,250 / item - Beaumont Bouclé Lounge ChairBy Jonathan AdlerLocated in New York, NYNew Traditionalism. Minimalist rigor meets cocoon-y comfort. Our Beaumont collection's architectural yet airy bases are juxtaposed with silhouettes softened by sculptural flair. Balance and geometry get a glamorous lift from shiny polished brass and luxe Olympus Ivory bouclé. Pairs perfectly with our Beaumont Settee. Specs: Upholstered in Olympus Ivory Bouclé upholstery (54% polyester, 41% acrylic, 5% wool) Loose bench seat cushion...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Scandinavian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBrass
$2,100 / item - Warren Platner for Knoll Lounge ChairBy KnollLocated in New York, NYSculptural and graceful iconic lounge chair model 1705 by Warren Platner designed in 1962 for Knoll International. Upholstered in luxurious rust ...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Joe Colombo Swivel "Elda" Italian Lounge ChairBy Joe Colombo, Comfort, ItalyLocated 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
$17,900 / item - 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 ‘Elda’ Lounge Chair in Cognac Leather and Black FiberglassBy Comfort, Italy, Joe ColomboLocated in Waalwijk, NLJoe Colombo for Comfort, lounge chair model ‘Elda’, fiberglass, leather, Italy, design 1963, later production. The ‘Elda’ chair is one of the most well-known designs of Italian desi...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Post-Modern Lounge Chairs
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 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