Pair of Jens Risom 21 Chair 1940s USA for Knoll Associates
View Similar Items
Pair of Jens Risom 21 Chair 1940s USA for Knoll Associates
About the Item
- Creator:Jens Risom (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 31.5 in (80 cm)Width: 23.63 in (60 cm)Depth: 31.5 in (80 cm)Seat Height: 18.12 in (46 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1940s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Berlin, DE
- Reference Number:Seller: Cl.ob.JensRisomKnoll.m.1702b1stDibs: LU159127022113
Jens Risom
The Danish-born Jens Risom brought the Scandinavian modern design sensibility to a wide audience in the United States. As the first designer for Knoll Inc., Risom introduced American buyers to the region’s enduring design values of simplicity, grace and craftsmanship.
Risom trained in furniture making at the Copenhagen School of Industrial Arts and Design under Ole Wanscher, alongside classmates Hans Wegner and Børge Mogensen. In 1939, a year after graduating from business school, Risom decided to move to the U.S.
While working for an interior designer in New York in 1941, he met Hans Knoll, and the businessman and the designer hit it off. They brought out their first line the next year, despite wartime materials restrictions. The signature piece — now a design icon — was a lounge chair with a striking, undulant birch frame and a seat made of webbed sub-military grade parachute straps. Risom was drafted into the army, and served as a translator under General George Patton. When he returned from the war, Risom clashed over furniture design ideals with his business partner’s new bride, Florence Knoll, the pioneering mid-century modernist who was schooled in the Bauhaus method, which favored furniture with strict, geometric metal frames. Risom then started his own company, Jens Risom Design.
In the course of his long career, Risom developed a stylistic vocabulary that was a reflection of the life of the man himself: his furniture has Danish warmth coupled with an American air of crisp efficiency. Vintage Risom chairs are almost instantly recognizable — the arms and seat backs are set at a distinctive angle that seems to invite people to sit back and relax, yet they know they can hop up in an instant, ready to go.
As you will see on these pages, Jens Risom is one of the great men of American modern design who made furniture that is unique and timeless.
Find a collection of vintage Jens Risom furniture on 1stDibs that includes lounge chairs, desks, coffee tables and more.
More From This Seller
View AllVintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Walnut
Vintage 1950s Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Wood
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Wood
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Wood
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Settees
Fabric, Wood
You May Also Like
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Slipper Chairs
Alpaca
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Beech
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Wood
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Leather, Birch
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Birch
Vintage 1980s American Lounge Chairs
Wood
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Original in Berlin’s Lars Triesch Has Turned a Passion for Design into a Booming Business
His two gallery spaces in the German capital bring together thousands of pieces ranging from mid-century classics and Murano glass to covetable reproductions manufactured in-house.
11 Galleries That Put Berlin on the International Design Map
Get to know the dealers and makers who are attracting worldwide attention.