The Egg Chair

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A community resource site dedicated to Arne Jacobsen’s Egg Chairs by Fritz Hansen

hanging wicker egg chair

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although not a direct decendent of Jacobsen egg chair, The hanging wicker chair designed by Nana Ditzel and her husband Joergen in 1957 is a good example of the variety that the egg shape/concept can produce,and probably has more in common with the bubble chair.  You can see more of Nana Ditzel’s work here.

Although not available today, their are a variety of new hanging wicker chairs around that can be placed in your backyard or hung from a patio.  Here are a few I found:

Amazon:  $999

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Urban Balance Curve hanging wicker chair: $469 or $689 at OutdoorGardenFurniture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Urban Balance Cove hanging wicker chair: $1299

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rounding out the list is one from good ol’ Ikea for $59.99.  If you have any suggestions for more hanging wicker chairs, leave a comment below.

1970s egg chair-ball-bubble-stereo-pod

There seems to be a little bit of overlap and confusion with so many chairs using the term "egg" either in name or just by how they look.  This sections lists some of the other egg chairs, and hopefully clears up some confusion between these iconic designs. 

One of the first thing many people thing that these egg chairs were designed in the 1970’s but in reality the originals were designed much earlier than that.  The egg chairs most closely resembling the 70’s era would be: 

Ball Chair:
Designed by eero aarnio, 1966

 

 

 

 

 

 

It took a few years to get the chair into production. 1966 the Ball Chair was presented at the international furniture fair in Cologne.

Fiberglass shell, upholstery.

Dimensions:
47" h  39" d  41" w

Where to Buy:
Amazon: $1999
ModernCollection.com: $1589
Inmod.com: Multiple options, starting at $1450
Ebay

 

Bubble Chair:
Designed by eero aarnio, 1968

 

 

 

 

 


 

Aarnio about Bubble Chair: "After I had made the Ball Chair I wanted to have the light inside it and so I had the idea of a transparent ball where light comes from all directions. The only suitable material is acrylic which is heated and blown into shape like a soap bubble. And again the name was obvious: BUBBLE."

The reason why the bubble chair hangs is that Aarnio didn’t think there would be a feasible way to make a clear pedastool.
Where to Buy:
Paradigm Gallery (pgmod.com): $1695
Shop Seating.com: $895
Plushpod: $3900
HighbrowModern.com: $3350
Inmod.com: $1699
Ebay

Alpha Stereo Chair-Pod-Ovalia egg Chair:
Designed by Thor Larsen, 1968

 

 

 

 

 

 

OVALIA was exhibited for the first time at the Scandinavian Furniture Fair in 1968

There are quite a few varities in this category The more elongated "Egg" or "Pod" chair was originally designed by Thor Larsen and dubbed the "Ovalia chair. " is the orignal but after that many copies were made of the simplified geometric form, this chair is often used as a prop in science fiction films during the 1970s.  Since then, they have appeared in many films, television commercials and print advertisements this includes a version of this chair featured prominetly in the movie Men In Black. 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

Where to Buy:
Inmod.com: Multiple options, starting at $1899
Evofurniture: $1949
Ebay

And Finally, they have started to make something similar to the bubble chair in wicker as a hanging chair

If you would like to see some more images of these vintage designs I would highly recommend going to sixdifferentways resource gallery.

The egg chair gets a “3d” leather covering

The egg draped in "Peony" leather fabric by artist, Helen Amy Murray she is an internationally recognized artist for her use of hand-crafted, luxury creations inspired to create 3D surfaces within textiles. I think it looks pretty damn good gracing the egg chair, have any of you seen any other unique fabrics on the egg?  Leave a comment below if you have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Helen won the Oxo-Peugeot Prize in 2004 for her designs,  and you can see more of her work here.

via-ifitshipitshere

Even Ikea’s getting in on the egg chair action

The Tirup chair from Ikea:

I think we can all guess were the influence for this one came for, although I quite like the toned down arms, possibly acting as a complimentary piece to the original jacobsen design.

Designed by Carl Öjerstam and available in a black/white or black/yellow colour combination, It’s also got a chrome swivel base and a cotton cushion cover. It retails for $299, what are your thoughts on Ikea’s design?

 

via-retro to go

 

 

Egg chair featured in Housebeautiful.com feature

Kips Bay 2007: Beale - Lana Interior Design
A modern entrance hall from Beale-Lana Interior Design.

From the desigeners Randall Beale and Carl Lana tend to mix contemporary design with antiques, they created an entrance hall that presents a retrospective of their philosophy, styles, and interests and was featured in Housebeautiful. The entrance hall seems to create a good mix of modern design icons (egg chair, of course) and classicism toghether.

Q&A from the article:

 What’s the idea behind your room?
"Our vision for the entrance hall is one of extreme high style with bold elements. The decor of the room represents the life and times of a sophisticated and well-traveled individual — possibly a couple. Who is at ease in any social situation, a totally downtown bohemian type living on the Upper East Side. The decorative elements represented the evolution of one’s passions and tastes. Nothing is discarded, but reinterpreted, in the way that Europeans do from generation to generation. Quality always stands the test of time."

via housebeautiful

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Disclaimer: Not associated with or endorsed by Fritz Hansen or representatives of Arne Jacobsen, this site is meant to be a community resource for the iconic egg chair design.