Jens Risom for Knoll Mid Century Strap Stool Ottoman
About the Item
- Creator:Knoll (Manufacturer),Jens Risom (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 17.25 in (43.82 cm)Width: 16.5 in (41.91 cm)Depth: 15.25 in (38.74 cm)Seat Height: 17.25 in (43.82 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Unknown
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Countryside, IL
- Reference Number:
Jens Risom
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.
Knoll
As a company that produced many of the most famous and iconic furniture designs of the 20th century, Knoll was a chief influence in the rise of modern design in the United States. Led by Florence Knoll, the firm would draw stellar talents such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Eero Saarinen into its compass. Their work would help change the face of the American home and office.
The company was formed in 1938 by the German immigrant Hans Knoll. He first worked with his fellow ex-pat, the Danish designer Jens Risom, who created furniture with flowing lines made of wood. While Risom served in World War II, in 1943 Knoll met his future wife, Florence Schust. She had studied and worked with eminent emigré leaders of the Bauhaus, including Mies, Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. She won Knoll over with Bauhaus notions of industrial arts, and an aesthetic that featured flat and tubular metal frames and angular forms. When Hans died in a car crash in 1955, Florence Knoll was appointed head of the company. It was as much through her holistic approach to design — a core division of the firm was dedicated to planning office systems — as Knoll's mid-century modern furnishings themselves that she brought about the sleek and efficient transformation of the American workplace.
Today, classic Knoll furnishings remain staples of modern design collections and decor. A history of modern design is written in pieces such as the elegant Barcelona chair — created by Mies and Lilly Reich — Saarinen’s pedestal Tulip chair, Breuer’s tubular steel Wassily lounge chair and the grid-patterned Diamond chair by Harry Bertoia.
As you can see from the collection of these designs and other vintage Knoll dining chairs, sofas and tables on 1stDibs, this manufacturer's offerings have become timeless emblems of the progressive spirit and sleek sophistication of the best of modernism.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Countryside, IL
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Jens Risom Mid Century Walnut StoolBy Jens RisomLocated in Countryside, ILJens Risom Mid Century walnut stool This stool is 16 wide x 19 deep x 37.25 inches high, with a seat height of 27 inches All pieces of furnit...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsWalnut
- Jens Risom for Knoll Mid Century Strap Lounge Chairs, PairBy Knoll, Jens RisomLocated in Countryside, ILJens Risom for Knoll mid century strap lounge chairs - pair These chairs measure: 20 wide x 23 deep x 30 inches high, with a seat height of 15.5 inches ?All pieces of furniture...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- Jens Risom Mid Century Walnut Stools - PairBy Jens RisomLocated in Countryside, ILJens Risom Mid Century Walnut Stools - Pair Each stool measures: 20 wide x 16 deep x 16.5 high, with a seat height of 16.5 inches All pieces...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsUpholstery, Walnut
- Jens Risom Mid Century Walnut Stools, Set of 4By Jens RisomLocated in Countryside, ILJens Risom Mid Century walnut stools - Set of 4 Each stool measures: 20 wide x 16 deep x 16.5 high, with a seat height of 16.5 inches Al...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsUpholstery
- Paul McCobb for Calvin Mid-Century Brass X Base Stool OttomanBy Calvin Furniture, Paul McCobbLocated in Countryside, ILPaul McCobb for Calvin mid century brass x base stool ottoman. Stool measures: 20 wide x 20 deep x 15.5 inches high. All pieces of furniture can be had in what we call restored...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsBrass
- Jens Risom Mid Century Corner DeskBy Jens RisomLocated in Countryside, ILJens Risom Mid Century Corner Desk This desk measures: 68 wide x 72.5 deep x 28.25 high, with a chair clearance of 25 inches The return ...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsChrome
- Early Jens Risom for Knoll Strap StoolBy Knoll, Jens RisomLocated in St. Louis, MOEarly Jens Risom for Knoll strap stool for Knoll, missing label, but date stamped May 15, 1952. Original finish shows age, original strap webbing wor...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsMaple
- Rare and Early Jens Risom Stool for Knoll Associates, New York CityBy Knoll, Jens RisomLocated in Buffalo, NYRare and early Jens Risom stool for Knoll Associates, New York City. Simple, elegant design. Retains original finish as well as original early oil cloth upholstered top. Also origina...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsUpholstery, Birch
- Jens Risom Armchair for KnollBy Knoll, Jens RisomLocated in Brooklyn, NYThis armchair is an early example of Jens Risom's design for Knoll and is a simple yet innovative design. The chair is two separate pieces: a singular seat / back component is simply...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsBirch, Textile
- Jens Risom Armchair for Knoll AssociatesBy Knoll, Jens RisomLocated in Kalamazoo, MIThis is a beautiful upholstered armchair designed by Jens Risom for HG Knoll & Associates in the 1940s. It is one of the early, iconic chairs that ushered in a period of incredible mid-century modern design. The solid Birch frame cradles a foam cushioned seat that was recently reupholstered in Knoll Maharam fabrics. The fabric is timeless and high-quality, and it suits the lighter birch wood color perfectly. This is more than just a collectible MCM chair...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsBirch
- Mid-Century Vintage Jens Risom Knoll Webbed ArmchairBy Knoll, Jens RisomLocated in Baltimore, MDA stunning iconic cotton strap, webbed, lounge, armchair, 652W design (1943) early edition, designed by Jens Risom for Knoll International. Features a solid maple frame with original woven cotton straps. It is one of the most comfortable pieces you will sit in, the exquisite curved back provides lumbar support making this chair as comfortable as it is beautiful. The removable webbed, basket seat, shell is supported and rests on the arm frame base. Very Rare Vintage Modern Classic design. An iconic piece of furniture, this example has remained in a single collection since it was acquired by the prior owner from Knoll International and the original early label remains affixed beneath. (Knoll Associates Inc. 601 Madison Ave New York 22). This label has the earliest Knoll Associates showroom address, which opened in 1946. Measurements: 24.5 ” tall x 24? wide x 30? deep x seat height 18? (arm height 21") (seat to the lowest point 11") Jens Risom Danish-American architect-designer Jens Risom was born in Copenhagen in 1916, the son of a nationally renowned architect of the Nordic Classicism style. Between 1935 and 1938, he trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts under Ole Wanscher and Kaare Klint, alongside classmates Hans Wegner and Børge Mogensen. For a short time following his studies, he took on furniture and interior designer projects for the Copenhagen-based architectural firm Ernst Kuhn. He then moved briefly to Stockholm, where he worked for Nordiska Kompaniet and met Alvar Aalto and Bruno Mathsson. Around 1939, he immigrated to New York with ambitions to introduce the Scandinavian modernist approach to the US furniture market. Risom’s arrival in the US coincided with the years of materials shortages brought on by the war. As a result, Risom was unable to secure a position in a furniture company, and, instead, found work designing textiles for decorator Dan Cooper. Eager to do more, he soon convinced Cooper to expand into the furniture market, and together they found projects with young, progressive architects like Ed Stone and George Nelson. In 1939-40, Ed Stone was invited to create Collier Magazine’s House of Ideas pavilion at Rockefeller Center as part of the New York World’s Fair, and Risom designed all of the furniture. Around 1941, Risom met Hans Knoll, a German-born entrepreneur in the furniture industry who had a showroom on Madison Avenue dedicated to rather lackluster furnishings. Sharing a dream to do something more vanguard, they joined forces and set off on a four-month tour of the US in search of design inspiration. By 1942, Knoll launched Hans Knoll Furniture Company with Risom on board as his head designer. Risom’s early designs for Knoll made use of military surplus...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsFabric, Maple
- Mid-Century Trio of Walnut and Travertine Stools or Bench by Jens RisomBy Jens RisomLocated in Philadelphia, PAThese versatile stools with nicely figured walnut and travertine tops can be used separately or you can push them together to form a bench using either two or three.Category
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsTravertine