• Tom Dixon, prototype S chair, 1987-88, Tom dixon
  • Tom Dixon, prototype S chair, 1987-88, Tom dixon
  • Tom Dixon, prototype S chair, 1987-88, Tom dixon
  • Tom Dixon, prototype S chair, 1987-88, Tom dixon
  • Tom Dixon, prototype S chair, 1987-88, Tom dixon
  • Tom Dixon, prototype S chair, 1987-88, Tom dixon
  • Tom Dixon, prototype S chair, 1987-88, Tom dixon
  • Tom Dixon, prototype S chair, 1987-88, Tom dixon
  • Tom Dixon, prototype S chair, 1987-88, Tom dixon
  • Tom Dixon, prototype S chair, 1987-88, Tom dixon
  • Tom Dixon, prototype S chair, 1987-88, Tom dixon

Tom Dixon, prototype S chair, 1987-88

S chair prototype by Tom Dixon

Pair available, priced singularly.

The S chair offered is an early developmental prototype. It was acquired in the late 1980s as part of a group of designs by Tom Dixon directly from the designer in exchange for a painting.

Significantly, the hand-formed and welded steel frame differs from models seen in V&A and MoMA collections, with a simplified single ring base. It closely resembles the example in the Vitra Design Museum collection. The straw is from Norfolk and likely to have been handwoven by Ingrid Chen

The S chair marked a significant point in Tom Dixon’s career when the design was licensed by Giulio Cappellini for international distribution.

The now-iconic profile pays reference to other single-piece cantilever chair designs from Gerrit Reitveld’s Zig Zag and Verner Panton’s designs in plywood and plastic.

Tom Dixon says of the design:
“I have often been asked what the inspiration was behind the S-Chair and, honestly, the only memory I have is of drawing a small doodle of a chicken […] and thinking that I could make a chair from it.”

“The secret of its success, I believe, was creating an unexpected and unconventional shape in an archetypical comforting material.”

It is thought that Dixon’s workshops may have produced around 60 S-chairs before manufacture was taken over by Cappellini. These early chairs were in a variety of materials including latex, wicker and tyre inner tubes. They also employed found materials and components for the base configuration, with Tom Dixon being a founding member of the ‘Creative Salvage’ movement.

It is perhaps the rustic nature of woven straw in combination with a modernist profile that is most successful.

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Description Dropdown

S chair prototype by Tom Dixon

Pair available, priced singularly.

The S chair offered is an early developmental prototype. It was acquired in the late 1980s as part of a group of designs by Tom Dixon directly from the designer in exchange for a painting.

Significantly, the hand-formed and welded steel frame differs from models seen in V&A and MoMA collections, with a simplified single ring base. It closely resembles the example in the Vitra Design Museum collection. The straw is from Norfolk and likely to have been handwoven by Ingrid Chen

The S chair marked a significant point in Tom Dixon’s career when the design was licensed by Giulio Cappellini for international distribution.

The now-iconic profile pays reference to other single-piece cantilever chair designs from Gerrit Reitveld’s Zig Zag and Verner Panton’s designs in plywood and plastic.

Tom Dixon says of the design:
“I have often been asked what the inspiration was behind the S-Chair and, honestly, the only memory I have is of drawing a small doodle of a chicken […] and thinking that I could make a chair from it.”

“The secret of its success, I believe, was creating an unexpected and unconventional shape in an archetypical comforting material.”

It is thought that Dixon’s workshops may have produced around 60 S-chairs before manufacture was taken over by Cappellini. These early chairs were in a variety of materials including latex, wicker and tyre inner tubes. They also employed found materials and components for the base configuration, with Tom Dixon being a founding member of the ‘Creative Salvage’ movement.

It is perhaps the rustic nature of woven straw in combination with a modernist profile that is most successful.

Dimensions Dropdown

45 x 50 x 50/99cmh

Materials Dropdown

Woven straw seat with steel frame

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