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.
Sofa by Jens Risom for Risom Manufacturing
By Jens Risom
Located in Sagaponack, NY
A three (3) seat sofa on a teak frame base retaining the original yellow upholstery.
Teak, Upholstery
$4,000Sale Price|20% Off
H 30 in W 109 in D 29 in
Mid-Century Danish Modern Long Sofa Designed by Johannes Aasbjerg Teak Legs
By Johannes Aasbjerg
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Beautiful 1955 Danish Sofa designed by Johannes Aasbjerg has original upholstery with a 4 seat design. Long 106 inch long sofa. Sits on 8 Solid teak tapered legs. Use As-Is or have i...
Upholstery, Teak
Classic Jens Risom Three Seat Sofa Ca' 1960's
By Jens Risom
Located in St.Petersburg, FL
A classic three seat sofa by Jens Risom, ca' 1960's. Sculpted and recessed walnut base, model #2516. Freshly reupholstered and ready to be enjoyed for many years. The cushions are re...
Upholstery, Walnut
Frits Henningsen 3 Seater Sofa 1960's
By Frits Henningsen
Located in Shibuya-ku, 13
Fritz Henningsen, born in 1889, operated his own workshop primarily in Copenhagen, overseeing the entire process from design to furniture production. His high-quality furniture, whic...
Fabric, Mahogany
$6,850
H 30 in W 118 in D 33.25 in
Danish Modern Frits Henningsen Large Scale Sofa 118" Width Reupholstered
By Frits Henningsen
Located in Atlanta, GA
Danish Modern Sofa, designed by Frits Henningsen, Denmark, circa 1940s. This sofa is currently being reupholstered and can be completed in your fabric. Simply send us 14 yards of you...
Upholstery, Wood
Mid Century Modern Josef Otmar Gondola Sofa
By Otmar, Adrian Pearsall
Located in Raleigh, NC
Exceptional mid-century modern gondola sofa by celebrated designer Josef Otmar, featuring his signature flowing lines and masterful woodworking. This stunning piece showcases the sc...
Upholstery, Walnut
$6,500
H 31 in W 100.5 in D 30 in
Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen Minerva Daybed Sofa France and Sons Denmark
By Peter Hvidt
Located in Lake Worth, FL
Vintage Rare Extra Long Danish modern Minerva Daybed Sofa. Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen for John Stuart circa 1960's. Beautiful sleek Mid Century Design. Rare extra long size...
Teak
Douglas Sofa by Lawson-Fenning
By Lawson-Fenning
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The Douglas sofa is a low-slung sofa with a down-wrapped seat cushion and solid American walnut or white oak legs. The Lawson-Fenning Collection is designed and handmade in Los Ang...
Mohair, Walnut
Swedish Mid-Century Cabinetmaker Sofa, Sweden 1950s
Located in Utrecht, NL
Svensk design, “Swedish design”, is unquestionably a conventional and popular branding device, with many companies explicitly promoting their products as examples of god design, “good design”. But svensk design does not simply represent “good” design made in Sweden, it also projects a powerful, concrete rendering of a sort of essentialized “Swedishness” embedded in objects, such as this sofa. Rounded out lines, unexpected curvature and innovative shapes from every angle define the design of this model. The aesthetic recalls classic English upholstered furniture...
Fabric, Wood
$5,400
H 29.5 in W 97 in D 30 in
Danish Mid-Century Kurt Østervig Attributed Large Danish Four-Seat Sofa, 1960's
By Kurt Østervig
Located in Bridgeport, CT
Amazing sofa sleek organic design lines and just the epitome of the best the Danish designers of the 1960s had to offer. Some of these fantastic designs were in many ways the last ho...
Wool, Teak
Bastiano Sofa Designed by Afra & Tobia Scarpa for Gavina Italy, 1960s
By Afra & Tobia Scarpa
Located in Round Rock, TX
Three-seat “Bastiano” sofa designed by Tobia Scarpa for Gavina, produced in Italy prior to the later Knoll manufacturing examples. An early and increasingly difficult-to-find version...
Fabric, Rosewood
First Generation “Oasis” Sofa By Edward Wormley For Dunbar, 1939
By Edward Wormley
Located in Round Rock, TX
Edward Wormley for Dunbar. First generation Oasis sofa, designed circa 1939. One of the earliest and most sculptural forms from Wormley’s catalog. Organic lines, floating curves, an...
Fabric
Pair of Ole Gjerløv-Knudsen for Cado Slipper Chairs, Denmark, Plaid Wool Fabric
By Ole Gjerløv-Knudsen and Torben Lind
Located in Round Rock, TX
Pair of “Moduline” Lounge Chairs by Ole Gjerløv-Knudsen & Torben Lind for France & Son / Cado An uncommon in oak and highly attractive pair of Danish modern slipper chairs, designed...
Wool, Oak
Set of Six Adolf Relling and Rolf Rastad Dining Chairs
By Adolf Relling and Rolf Rastad
Located in Round Rock, TX
Beautiful set of 6 Afromosia dining chairs by Adolf Relling and Rolf Rastad for Gustave Bahus & Eft, c. 1954. All seats features true yellow cording, each with a different cording pa...
Cord, Wood
Pair of Afra Tobia Scarpa Leather Lounge Chairs, B&B Italia
By Afra & Tobia Scarpa
Located in Round Rock, TX
Pair of Coronado Lounge Chairs by Tobia Scarpa for C&B Italia Pair of Coronado lounge chairs designed by Tobia Scarpa for C&B Italia in the 1970s. The Coronado series marked an impo...
Leather
Pair of Lou Hodges Lounge Chairs, Oak, Walnut, 1970s
By Lou Hodges
Located in Round Rock, TX
Pair of Lou Hodges Lounge Chairs in Chocolate Mohair. An exceptional pair of sculptural lounge chairs designed by Lou Hodges, showcasing the California designer’s signature balance...
Mohair, Oak, Walnut
