The Egg Chair

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The classic AJ Handle manufactured by Carl F Petersen, available in matt nickel or polished unlacquered brass with 50mm diameter visible fixing roses, 8mm spindle, complete with bolt through fixings to suit doors 44mm thickness.

The AJ Handles comes in two different sizes, 97mm and 111mm.  When the handles were initially designed for the SAS Royal Hoel in Copenhagen the smaller Jacobsen handles graced the internal doors and the larger doorknobs were used as the hotels exterior doorknobs.  This handle blends in beautfiully with the furniture and designed objects that Arne designed for the hotel.

Sadly the AJ Door Handle is only used on internal doors these days, after remodels of the SAS hotel the main room entry comes courtesy of an electronic card reader.

Where to buy:

Although not offered at many places, I currently have found the AJ Handles at these stores:

Royal Shopping: $177
Homebits (uk): 97 pounds

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.