Walnut armchair with upholstered seat and caned back, designed by Jens Risom.

FPF479

Walnut armchair with upholstered seat and caned back, designed by Jens Risom.

Designed in 1958, manufactured 1970-1980.

A walnut armchair with upholstered seat and caned back designed by Jens Risom and manufactured by W. Davis, High Wycombe.

This walnut armchair has a caned back and upholstered seat. The design is typical of mid-century Scandinavian modernist style, using natural materials in simple structural forms to create highly efficient and well-proportioned furniture. The chair was designed by Danish-American, Jens Risom (1916-2016) in 1958, and this example was made in the 1970s as model number C140 by W. Davis, furniture manufacturers in High Wycombe from 1924 to 1980. The design has become known as the ‘Playboy’ chair, after Risom posed with it for a 1961 issue of Playboy magazine, alongside other leading designers of the period. The upholstered seat has been re-covered in an oatmeal coloured, textured fabric.

Risom is credited with being was one of the first designers to introduce Scandinavian design to the United States, working first with Hans Knoll in the 1940s and in 1946 setting up his own company, Jens Risom Design. Many of his furniture designs, including this chair, are considered modern classics and are on display in museums and galleries across America and Europe.

Good. Upholstery replaced.

Walnut (or possibly teak).
Upholstery.
Cane.

H. 81
W. 58
D. 58

Donated to the Frederick Parker Collection in 2014 by Alan Pledge, a former student of the London College of Furniture.

Sources for this piece:
Jens Risom | Wikipedia
Jens Risom | Design Within Reach
W. Davis | Graces Guide