The Panton Chair by Verner Panton
A Moulded Plastic "S" Chair From a Bona Fide Modernist Maverick
Feb 8, 2009
Though Panton first had the idea for his chair as early as 1960, it wasn’t until the latter end of the decade that its American manufacturer, Herman Miller, found the means to mass produce it. When finally introduced to the mass market in 1967, the chair was often cited as the foremost example of the new vanguard of Modernist design. This original Herman Miller Panton Chair – also commonly referred to as the Stacking chair and the “S” chair – was rendered using a single piece of “S” shaped cantilevered plastic which was later fitted-out with a reinforced lacquered integument.
Panton & The Danish School
As a protégé of fellow Danish designer Arne Jacobsen, Panton’s furniture designs without question betray the influence of the Scandinavian school of design; however, the apprentice was only to spend a brief two year period (1950-52) under the tutelage of the grand old man of Danish Modernism. Panton had his own unusual vision to pursue. A more maverick Modernist sensibility was in the offing and Panton was just the man to bring it to life.
Panton in Europe
For this reason, Panton betook himself in his now famous Volkswagen van-cum-studio to the metropolises of European art and design. While his grand tour might have been financially un-remunerative, it was to this sojourn that the designer owed the inspiration for many of his later designs. Ideas that would reinvigorate and indeed in many ways prove a sea change for Modernist design were already taking root in the now well-travelled designer.
Stackable Buckets & The "S" Chair
Indeed, the nisus for his most renowned piece, the Panton Chair, is to be traced to one of the designer's more unusual trips. Not in a design studio or atelier did the designer undergo his damascene moment, but rather in a factory that manufactured plastic buckets and safety helmets. Panton was apparently much taken by the neat stackability and clean plastic finish of these everyday items. The Panton seat seed was sown, but it would not see the light of day till the means of mass manufacture were discovered five years later.
The Panton Chair Today
Since its first public appearance in a 1967 editon of Mobilia magazine, the Panton chair has held a special place in the public consciousness. Not just a mainstay of all number of chic living and dining spaces, the Panton remains relevant in the world of furniture design today - Tom Dixon's 1989 "S" chair was not a little influenced by the Panton precursor. Its presence on the cover of British Vogue alongside Kate Moss and as the seat of choice at celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s “15” restaurant only goes to prove that after forty years as an icon, the Panton's cool remains undiminished.
Panton Chair Prices & Sizes
Today, the Swiss furniture company Vitra has the exclusive license to manufacture the Panton chair. Since 1999, it has been manufactured in a range of polypropelene finishes and colours: these include white, black, red, blue and yellow. They retail at $260.
A Vitra Panton Chair measures: 19.75 W 32.5 H 23.5 D; seat-height is 16.25 inches.
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