Pierre Paulin Mushroom Chair
View Similar Items
Pierre Paulin Mushroom Chair
About the Item
- Creator:Pierre Paulin (Designer),Artifort (Maker)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 26.75 in (67.95 cm)Width: 25 in (63.5 cm)Depth: 33 in (83.82 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:Newly restored/ reupholstered.
- Seller Location:Highland, IN
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU909118079091
Mushroom Chair
Plush, sculptural and low to the ground, the Mushroom chair is seating that prioritizes comfort over formality. Designed in 1960 to envelop the body, it anticipated an audacious era of exploration and rampant challenges to conventionality, and with its bright-colored fabric and bold organic form, the Mushroom chair was an immediate hit upon its release. For French designer Pierre Paulin (1927–2009), who had been in search of new methods of manufacturing chairs when he conceived of this provocative piece, he’d come a long way.
Paulin initially pursued ceramics and then trained as a sculptor in Burgundy, but gave up the latter after he injured his arm during a fistfight. Instead, he attended the École Camondo in Paris. “To make drawings of Louis XVI chairs was a good education, like learning Latin,”' he later said of his time at the institution. Early-career modernist experiments saw Paulin working with bent plywood processes and covering chair frames with stretched womens’ swimwear pieces during his tenure at Thonet — endeavors that would preface his celebrated work at Dutch manufacturer Artifort in the years that followed.
The production behind the Mushroom chair was nothing short of revolutionary, even though it required minimal materials. Underneath its single-piece elastic stretch jersey cover, a frame of steel tubing covered with molded foam padding comprises the piece’s alluring shape. Paulin would continue to use this construction technique at Artifort throughout the decade, including in two of his memorable designs, the Ribbon chair (1966) and the Tongue chair (1967). Still manufactured by Artifort, the Mushroom chair is as striking and seductive as ever.
Pierre Paulin
Pierre Paulin introduced a fresh breeze into French furniture design in the 1960s and ’70s, fostering a sleek new Space-Age aesthetic. Along with Olivier Mourgue, Paulin developed chairs, sofas, dining tables and other furnishings with flowing lines and almost surreal naturalistic forms. And his work became such a byword for chic, forward-looking design and emerging technologies that two French presidents commissioned him to create environments in the Élysée Palace in Paris.
Paulin was born in Paris to a family of artists and designers. He initially sought to become a ceramist and sculptor and was studying in the town of Vallauris near the Côte d'Azur — a center for pottery making, where Pablo Picasso spent his postwar summers crafting ceramics — but broke his hand in a fight. He enrolled at the École Camondo, the Paris interior design school. There, Paulin was strongly influenced by the work of Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson and Arne Jacobsen, as was reflected in his early creations for the manufacturer Thonet-France.
It was at the Dutch firm Artifort, which he joined in 1958, where Paulin blossomed. In a few years, he produced several of his signature designs based on abstract organic shapes. These include the Butterfly chair (1963), which features a tubular steel frame and slung leather, and a group of striking seating pieces made with steel frames covered in polyurethane foam and tight jersey fabric: the Mushroom (1960), Ribbon (1966) and Tongue (1967) chairs. The revered designer not only introduced new construction techniques to Artifort furniture but contributed fresh materials, Pop art colors and dazzling shapes to the mid-century modern era as a whole.
In 1971, the Mobilier National — a department of France’s Ministry of Culture in charge of furnishing top-tier government offices and embassies — commissioned Paulin to redesign President Georges Pompidou’s private apartment in the Élysée Palace. In three years, Paulin transformed the staid rooms into futuristic environments with curved, fabric-clad walls and furnishings such as bookcases made from an arrangement of smoked-glass U shapes, flower-like pedestal chairs and pumpkin-esque loungers.
Ten years later, the Mobilier National called on Paulin again, this time to furnish the private office of President François Mitterand. Paulin responded with an angular, postmodern take on neoclassical furniture, pieces that looked surprisingly at home in the paneled, Savonnerie-carpeted Louis XVI rooms. As those two Élysée Palace projects show, Paulin furniture works well both in a total decor or when used as a counterpoint to traditional pieces. His creations have a unique personality: bright and playful yet sophisticated and suave.
Find vintage Pierre Paulin lounge chairs, armchairs, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- Pierre Paulin Ribbon Chair Ottoman by ArtifortBy Pierre Paulin, ArtifortLocated in Highland, INThis Pierre Paulin ottoman is waiting to be paired with a ribbon chair to make a set. It retains its original red fabric and silver paint on the base, but both show wear from age and...Category
Vintage 1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Ottomans and Poufs
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- Barrel Chairs in the Manner of Milo BaughmanBy Milo BaughmanLocated in Highland, INThese two handsome and well made barrel back chairs are unmarked, but very similar to designs by Milo Baughman. Deep, comfortable seats with swivel function, they are upholstered in ...Category
Vintage 1980s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- Sculptural Swivel Lounge Chairs by PreviewBy PreviewLocated in Highland, INThese comfortable and handsome barrel club chairs have a sculptural quality that is very similar to the designs of Vladimir Kagan. They sit on swivel bases with automatic return. We...Category
Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery
$6,000 / set - Cone Chair by Verner PantonBy Verner Panton, Plus-LinjeLocated in Highland, INA Classic Panton design, the cone chair is petite, sculptural, playful and surprisingly comfortable. This vintage example is newly upholstered in a brick red fabric with a nice weave.Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Pair of Lounge Chairs in the Manner of Pierre ChareauBy Pierre Chareau, Interior CraftsLocated in Highland, INThese two lovely lounge chairs are reproductions of a Pierre Chareau design. They were commissioned by important Chicago interior designer Roy Klipp (1923-20...Category
Vintage 1920s American Art Deco Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery
- Paul McCobb "Tub" Lounge ChairBy Paul McCobbLocated in Highland, INThis uncommon design by Paul McCobb is classic mid-century modern design. With it's clean lines and splayed tapered legs, it is stylish but unpretentious. A generous seat makes it ve...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- Pair Swivel Lounge Chairs Model 421 by Pierre Paulin for Artifort, 1970sBy Artifort, Pierre PaulinLocated in Kansas City, MOPair of Pierre Paulin lounge chairs model 421 made by Artifort, circa 1970. Both chairs are in very good condition and ready to use. The swivel mechanism works perfectly. Rare and fi...Category
Vintage 1970s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Swivel Chairs
MaterialsChrome
- Artifort Mushroom Lounge Chair by Pierre Paulin in STOCKBy Artifort, Pierre PaulinLocated in New York, NYMushroom medium chair Tonus 135 category CC The Mushroom armchair is one of the world’s most famous designs. Designer Pierre Paulin distinguished himself with this armchair in the original shape, bright colours and revolutionary manufacturing technique for the time. The idea for the Mushroom came to Pierre Paulin while he was watching women...Category
2010s Dutch Modern Chairs
MaterialsFabric
- Artifort Black Mushroom Lounge Chair by Pierre Paulin in STOCKBy Artifort, Pierre PaulinLocated in New York, NYMushroom medium F 560 The Mushroom armchair is one of the world’s most famous designs. Designer Pierre Paulin distinguished himself with this armchair in the original shape, bright colours and revolutionary manufacturing technique for the time. The idea for the Mushroom came to Pierre Paulin while he was watching women...Category
2010s Dutch Modern Chairs
MaterialsFabric
$2,378 Sale Price39% Off - Pierre Paulin “Mushroom” Chair with Stool for Artifort, Netherlands 1960By Artifort, Pierre PaulinLocated in Amsterdam, NLA beautiful “Mushroom” chair with matching pouf, designed by Pierre Paulin and manufactured by Artifort in the Netherlands around 1960. This iconic piece, model 560, is a highly rec...Category
Vintage 1960s Dutch Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric
- Pierre Paulin for Artifort Mid Century Big Globe ChairBy Artifort, Pierre PaulinLocated in Fort Lauderdale, FLBig Globe Lounge Chair F422 designed by Pierre Paulin for Artifort. Designed in 1959. Newer upholsteryCategory
Vintage 1980s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Swivel Chairs
MaterialsFabric
- Pierre Paulin F560 Mushroom for Artifort, Netherlands, circa 1970By Artifort, Pierre PaulinLocated in Pijnacker, Zuid-HollandMushroom f-560 lounge chair by Pierre Paulin for Artifort, Netherlands – circa 1970. The chair is made in a very dark brown (almost black) wool fabric by Kvadrat. The condition of th...Category
Vintage 1970s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsFabric, Wool
$3,078 Sale Price20% Off
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Pierre Paulin Is Still Groovy after All These Years
A sprawling show at the Centre Pompidou in Paris spotlights the famed furniture designer’s oeuvre, including rooms for two French presidents.
At Château La Coste, Pierre Paulin’s Visionary Home Concept Finally Comes to Life
Now synonymous with 1960s and ’70s French chic, the designer conceived his modular modernist furnishings to change the way we decorate.