CHERISHED DESIGNS
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The Egg™ chair - a star is hatched
August 2024 14mins
Arguably the most iconic lounge chair ever created, Arne Jacobsen's Egg chair has not only stood the test of time but still turns heads today some 70 years after its first introduction. Created by the most famous Danish architect and designer of his generation, it stands out as an exemplar of Mid Century Modern design.
The Egg - at a glance
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Originally designed in 1958 for the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen.
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Designed by Danish architect, Arne Jacobsen and manufactured by Fritz Hansen.
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The first production run was for 50 units commissioned for the opening of the SAS reception on July 1st 1960.
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The chair featured a unique new manufacturing technique that used a cold form foam shell layered with padding.
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The Egg chair is still made today by FH and on a limited run basis with no more than 10 units produced per week.
Right here, right now
It's difficult to imagine a more beautiful chair, or to even to begin to imagine what it would have been like to walk into a hotel in 1960 and be confronted by 50 of them; it must have felt like stepping into a time warp bubble. In a future where collars would be superfluous and people only dressed in tunics, they would sit in embryonic cocoons just like these and talk into the small video screens they held in their hands. That's literally how a 1950's Sci-Fi buff would have envisaged the future back then and yet Jacobsen was already designing it even before the swinging 60's had broken the bonds of conformity and let loose the dogs of fashion.
Who dares wins
The SAS hotel (Scandinavian Airlines System) was a daring modernist statement and was the tallest building in Denmark at that time. Standing twenty-two floors tall, the hotel was dubbed a "Landmark of the Jet Age", characterising the 1950s. However, like many ground breaking ideas it wasn't well received in its day.
It dwarfed its surroundings like a huge green glass monolith and although it was based on the much acclaimed Lever House building in New York, it was regularly cited as the ugliest building in Copenhagen. This was much to Jacobsen's amusement who was often quoted as saying "Well at least it came in first...!"
In an age now of swanky pads, boutique hotels and celebrity endorsements it's hard to imagine a time when the idea of a 'designer hotel' didn't exist; but it's now widely acknowledged that this was the first. Jacobsen not only designed the structure and the furniture but also pretty much everything else in the building too.
He was given total control and this meant his team not only designed the light fittings, textiles, door handles, salt and pepper pots, cutlery, signage and glassware, but also the typeface for the stationary too. And out of this prodigious output came two of the most famous and iconic Danish Mid Century Modern chairs of all time: The Egg Chair and The Swan Chair.
All about the bass
To say that the Egg and Swan chairs are 'curvy' is an understatement; they are much more than that - they are simply voluptuous. Whilst the Swan opens like a flower and raises the sitter up in a comfortable and more formal pose, the Egg envelopes you in its generous curves. It's a deliberately organic statement that was designed to both balance the linear modernism of the exterior and to also echo the sinuous curve of the lobby's spiral staircase. As such the Egg cocoons the sitter in their own comfortable, but also, private space, exactly as Jacobsen intended.
He knew how important that element of separation would be. The SAS was a vibrant hub of activity aimed at big ticket jet setters and the lobby and reception areas buzzed with chatter and anticipation. One minute you might want to turn your back on the world in quiet contemplation and the next gently rotate on the polished aluminium base to engage in hushed conversation, or to broker a business deal; the design was a stroke of genius.
Surprisingly it's never been used as a chair for a Bond villain, but it certainly has the theatre for it.
Like many furniture concepts of that generation its success not only lay in the reimagined familiarity of its form, echoing as it does the antique wing back chairs of yesteryear, but also in the technological advancements that made it possible. Similar to the TOGO, which we looked at in a previous article (HERE), the Egg only became possible because of advancements in foam forming which the Danish manufacturer, Fritz Hansen, were trialing at that time. This made the imagined possible and enabled the drawings Jacobsen sketched on scraps of paper to take form and come to life.
The very first Egg chair was hand carved in clay over a wire frame by Jacobsen himself along with Sandor Perjesi, a model maker who worked in his design studio - as Perjesi recalls: "I remember the first time we went to a summer cottage near Tissø to work on the Egg. We crammed the plaster model into my car and spent an entire weekend adding and filing off material. Back and forth, like classic sculpting."
It wasn’t, however, an easy feat to bridge the gap between prototyping and production. Styrofoam, which was the original foam used for trials, would crack when bent into the contours of the chair, so the team experimented with glass fibre reinforcements. This raised production costs dramatically and the issues weren't solved until a more durable liquid polyurethane foam called Styropore was developed that offered more strength and flexibility.
This foam, designed by the Norwegian company Plastmøbler A/S to make small boats, was initially adapted by H.W. Klein of Bramin Møbler. No design slouch himself, Klein was actually the first to create chair moulds with the new material. Jacobsen wasn't impressed by these designs but could see the enormous potential of the new material and eventually persuaded Frtiz Hansen to buy the patent - and the rest is history.
The resulting chair was not only incredibly strong and supportive but also extremely light for a chair of that size weighing in at just 7kg (15lbs), which is approximately the weight of 4 bags of sugar. This meant that the chair could be easily moved around by the staff and placed in different areas of the hotel as required.
Although later developments to the chair's base, including a tilt and self-centering mechanism, have now more than doubled the original weight to just over 18kg (40lbs) it's remains deceptively light for its size. It can still be moved relatively easily but you do have to creep up on it from behind and lock your arms under each wing with purpose; bit like you're wrestling a small playful bear.
The skin it's in
It's interesting to note that whilst the Egg is offered in numerous fabrics and colour choices by far and away the most popular choice is leather. The reason is two fold: firstly, leather ages beautifully (which is why really good vintage models can sell for more than the cost of buying new). And secondly, leather, and the workmanship required to apply and stitch the leather hides together, has a way of enhancing the design.
This can be seen in the quality of the stitching with over 1000 stitches stitched by hand that create a tight weave pattern under the piping. There's a short video produced by Fritz Hansen of their method HERE. It's a time-consuming process, but it's this type of care and attention that gives the chair it's premium look and feel.
However, leather wasn't always the preferred choice and this was simply based on the availability of quality hides. Whereas large leather hides can be relatively easily sourced now this wasn't possible in the 50s and 60s. This is another reason why good vintage models are sought after as early models were only ever produced in leather in very limited numbers; you'll note for example that all those at the SAS hotel are in fabric even though that's where they were introduced. And the reason for this (apart from cost) is because Jacobsen insisted that the chairs have no other joining seams than around the juncture of the front to back faces, inside the seat well and under the front of the seat curve. This therefore required a complete leather hide for the front and one for the back; and quality hides big enough to do the job were harder to come by back in the day.
Incidentally, that's why the 2 person Egg chair sofa that was also part of the lobby's decor (as seen on the left in this picture) never went into production. Cows with hides that size generally don't exist outside nuclear radiation fall out zones.
The Rebel with a cause
Artist, sculptor, architect and designer, Arne Jacobsen was nothing if not an innovator. His parents knew he was made differently when as a small boy he took a pot of paint and painted all the wallpaper in his bedroom pure white. That doesn't seem like a radical thing to do these days, but back in the early 1900's when floral bouquet wallpaper was seen as a luxury item, it raised more than a few eyebrows.
Everyone believed he would be an artist as he would often carry a sketching pad around with him and learned to use oil paints and pastels in his early teens. However, he was also very practical and hands on - having trained as a mason he graduated from the Technical College in 1924 and then also the Copenhagen Art Academy, after studying architecture, in 1927.
Following the completion of various architectural commissions as a young architect in 1929, he won the ‘House of the Future’ award at The Building and Housing Exhibition of the Academic Architects’ Association in Forum, Copenhagen. He then worked in fabrics and textiles before finally segueing into the realm of furniture design. These disciplines naturally sat side by side and helped Jacobsen to revolutionise the practice of 'total design' – of conceptualising and creating everything that a project required from the architecture to the furniture and everything else inbetween. And so the 1950's became his golden years.
In this decade he not only designed the Ant (1952), the Series 7 (1955) and the Grand Prix chairs (1957) for Fritz Hansen - all wildly popular and successful designs, but also the Alléhusene housing project in Copenhagen (1953) and the Rødovre, Town Hall, Denmark (1956).
It's little wonder then that at the peak of his career, Jacobsen was given his largest and most challenging brief yet; the creation of the SAS Royal Hotel. This gave us the Egg, the Swan and the Drop chairs, plus the series 3300 sofa and lounge chair set; and all before the turn of the decade.
The SAS would cater to an emerging class of wealthy travellers. And not just as a place to rest their weary heads; this was to be an international gateway into Scandinavia and would provide a world-class experience for anyone passing through its doors.
Jacobsen, as one of the most lauded architect and designers of his time, and a Copenhagen native, was the only man for the job - and the rest is history.
The SAS today
Whilst you would imagine that the SAS hotel and all its design treasures would become part of Danish heritage and be preserved for future generations, that didn't happen; well not in the way you would have expected. But I guess it's no surprise as fashions and tastes ebb and flow with the tide of each generation as it asserts its own sense of style. It's therefore only with hindsight that one can look back and realise the mistakes that were made. Thus, over a number of changes of ownerships, whilst the façade remained largely untouched, in the early 1980's many of the original pieces of furniture were either scrapped or sold in Copenhagen flea markets - only room 606, The Arne Jacobsen suite, remained as a time capsule to showcase the original designs.
That was until 2018 when the hotel (now rebranded as the Radisson Collection Hotel, Royal Copenhagen) benefited from a total refurbishment by Space Copenhagen – a design studio established in 2005 by Signe Bindslev Henriksen and Peter Bundgaard Rützou. Whilst the redesign sought to modernise the interiors, it continued to celebrate its pre-existing character and soul. I haven't been yet, but it's definitely on my bucket list!
The Egg chair today
Well, in short, it's as popular and sought after as it's ever been; style really doesn't go out of fashion. There's no question it has gravitas by virtue of its size, but the curves help to deceive the eye into allowing it to blend into a room in just the way a Stealth bomber might. But then it would depend on your colour and material choice.
It's still only produced in small numbers and hand made to exacting standards, so is naturally expensive - prices can be as high as £15,000 for the premium leather option and touching £18,000 for the set with the matching ottoman. But then the term 'expensive' is, in any event, a relative term as it depends on your perspective; I mean it costs less than owning a horse and you can sit on it more often without falling off, so there's no doubt in my mind it represents value for money...
What's wrong with it?
Honestly, not a lot. It's a relatively large chair so it's not going to work in a small room, and it is a firm and supportive chair, so while it's good for reading or watching TV it wouldn't be your go to chair for a snooze. But neither of these are based on problems with the design, it's been designed to be exactly as it is; no more, no less. Really the only problems that may arise can stem from buying a vintage model, and we cover that in a later section.
What's right with it?
First off it really is a beautiful chair with real poise and whilst you might think its stature might dominate a room it doesn't feel like that - it somehow adds to the essence of a room rather than feeling like an intrusion. This is all to do with the proportion and balance created by the curves and sweep of the arm sections that cutaway the bulk.
Secondly, it can not only add style to a space but also become your own personal space within it. That's no mean feat. It therefore allows you to participate in your surroundings or to shield yourself from them.
It's been suggested that Jacobsen drew on Eero Saarinen's (Knoll Inc. 1948) classic Womb chair for inspiration and you can see the similarity. The Egg, however, has a more statesmanlike air to it so while it can be a comfort zone it can also be a place to make you feel empowered too.
And lastly, it's so superbly upholstered and put together that you can't help but marvel at its sure footed style and elegance. Every detail is meticulously crafted and engineered; from the stunning leather hides to the cast aluminium base and mechanisms, everything works exactly as it should.
It doesn't so much rotate as gently glide you through your panorama, and the tilt function (which was not available until 1975) adds another dimension of comfort. It can be adjusted to be weight balanced and if you can afford to buy the matching ottoman it will give you the ultimate and most joyful Egg experience there is.
How to spot a fake Egg Chair
With so many fake Egg chairs in circulation you might wonder how to spot an original - and this is less straightforward than you might think when you understand there have been a number of variations over the years in format, construction, marking and labeling. More details and explanations are given below but in short the main points to look out for are:
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Originals only have a 4 spoke base
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Original bases will either be of a one piece fluted design (1958-1975) or two part chrome spindle and base (1975 onwards)
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Most originals (apart from very early models) have a FH, or Fritz Hansen; or Made in Denmark imprint in the base
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Most originals (although not all) have some type of serial number also imprinted in the base
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Many vintage originals will have a silver label fixed to the top of the base/collar or stuck to the underside of the chair
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All early models were sold without a seat cushion, with this only being an option from the 1963 onwards
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Originals have a unique size at 107cm tall, 86cm wide and have a depth of 79cm (95cm when reclined)
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Early models did not have a tilt function, this was only introduced from 1975 onwards.
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And finally, all originally upholstered chairs are made of just one piece of leather/fabric for the front and two pieces for the back and underside; where the back is joined to the base part of upholstery directly under the seat.
The devil is in the detail
Of all the iconic designs that exist the history of the The Egg chair's production is probably the least well documented.
I've spoken at length with Ida Leisner, Fritz Hansen's lead curator and researcher and there are large gaps in the production history that makes obvious visible confirmation difficult.
To be fair this is also true of many other designs from the 50's and 60s as firstly, no-one knew that they might still be in production 70 years later, and secondly, the threat of companies making illegal copies of a design simply didn't exist back then.
The issue arises, in regards to The Egg, because of the number of production facilities that have been involved in making the component parts for the chair. Plus of course there have been slightly different variants introduced over the years.
So for example, you'll often see mentioned on vintage websites and portals that originals have a 'Fritz Hansen' logo stamped into the underneath of the base and often with a matching serial number too. But that's not necessarily the case.
It turns out that some do have a full name logo, but some have just an 'FH' stamp; plus some have serial numbers and some don't - and early models from the late 50's and early 60s have no marks on the base at all!
And to add further confusion, the serial numbers (when present) don't necessarily specify a production date, but is generally more a way of identifying the manufacturer of the base. Some examples are shown in this image.
Other variations exist in both the shape of the base and also the top fixing collar - in early models it's a separate piece and in later models it's set within the chair structure itself. And finally the labeling and marking of the chair also varied over the years. Very early models had a basic stenciled paint imprint on the underneath of the leather and this was then subsequently changed to silvered labels with date stamps from the early sixties to late 70s; finally followed by a different design from the 80's through to the 2000s - these labels might be attached to the base or the underneath of the chair itself as shown below.
All this naturally makes identifying an original Fritz Hansen Egg chair very difficult if one is trying to simply identify it from the markings and labels alone: not just because there are so many variations to be aware of, but also just simply because the original labels will have often been detached and lost over the years. In fact the only identification that remains consistent was introduced from the 2005 onwards with Fritz Hansen adding a fabric label sewn into the upholstery. These were produced in red from 2005-2010; dark brown from 2011-2019; and pure black from 2020 onwards.
What to look for when buying vintage
When it was first designed in the late 50’s it was based on a revolutionary concept at that time of using a foam shell moulded over a glass fibre reinforcement to create the now famous sculptural ‘Egg’ form – and this was also used for the Swan chair too. However, over the years the original foam used degraded and would often crumble away, which dramatically affected both the structural integrity of the design and also the appearance of the leather cover; the leather would dry out, sag and then crack where the foam support was compromised. And this was regardless of whether the chair had been regularly sat in or not; the foam simply perished because of age and humidity and not necessarily because of use.
As such it’s very rare to find a chair from the late 50’s through to the late 70s that remains in a good, useable and comfortable condition – and if you do find one that has a sound foam structure and good leather cover it’s likely to have been replaced and the foam renovated; even if the listing might not mention that…
On this basis, for those ‘in the know’ the best version of the chair for comfort, durability and longevity was produced from around 1975 onwards.
By the mid 70s the foam and manufacturing techniques had been improved and a new tilt function had been added; the latter adding an improved degree of comfort in the recline of the chair that the originals did not have. That said, for purists, the change in the base profile from the one section fluted design (as can still be seen on the ottoman base) to the two piece column and four star pedestal was considered to be an aesthetic mistake. However, it was a necessary change as the structure of the mechanism of the swivel and tilt required a more robust and adaptable foundation.
Eternal style
Whether you buy new or vintage you know you'll be buying a chair that will always add a sense of style to any setting - it's one of those rare designs that can feel at home in both a corporate and a residential environment. It was a showstopper that defined its era and cemented its creator's reputation as one of the great designers of his age; and now some 70 years later, Arne Jacobsen's iconic design remains as popular and as relevant as ever.
We currently have a beautiful vintage Egg Chair and Ottoman set for sale on our website HERE
Article written by David Rokov, August 2024
David is a writer specialising in vintage and Mid century designs and works as a consultant advising corporate institutions, film and TV companies and private individuals on 20th Century art and design. David has also created and curated a number of vintage design exhibitions and is the Managing Director and chief buyer for Cherished Art and Designs Limited. Cherished Designs specialises in exceptional Mid-century, vintage, 20th century and contemporary furniture, art and decorative accessories.
This article forms part of a series of blogs for Cherished Designs. The blog is usually updated every two to three months with new content focusing on iconic designs and designers. To be notified of new content please subscribe by using the form at the bottom of the page. Thanks!