Seating1958
Egg Chair
Design Object · Lounge chair
Egg Chair
Arne Jacobsen designed the Egg for the lobby and reception spaces of the SAS Royal Hotel.
Record
| Object type | Lounge chair[s1] |
|---|---|
| Designer | Arne Jacobsen[s1] |
| Manufacturer | Fritz Hansen[s1] |
| Original year | 1958[s1] |
| Country | Denmark[s1] |
| Materials | Moulded foam shell, Aluminium base, Upholstery[s1] |
| Dimensions | W 86 × D 79–95 × H 107 cm[s1] |
| Series | Egg[s1] |
| Model | 3316[s1] |
| Production status | In production[s1] |
| Specification scope | Depth varies with tilt position.[s1] |
Design history & editions
Sources consulted 3 September 2026. This date applies to these notes, not a fresh verification of every inherited specification.
A 1958 chair for a hotel opened in 1960
The Egg belongs to Jacobsen's complete interior scheme for the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen. Arne Jacobsen Design dates the chair to 1958 and documents its presentation that year; the hotel opened in 1960. Archival lobby photographs show groups of Eggs forming smaller places to sit within the large public interior. [1]
Sculpting a shell
Fritz Hansen acquired a hard-foam production method in the mid-1950s. Jacobsen developed the forms of Egg and Swan through clay and plaster models rather than assembling their shape only from conventional wooden components. The archive relates the new material process to the freedom of their curved shells. [2]
What the archive establishes
The archive publishes photographs of the 1958 Formes Scandinaves presentation in Paris and the hotel's early interior. These document design context and use. They do not establish that a chair offered on the secondary market came from the hotel, or that its upholstery remains original. [1]
Models and editions
| Model / edition | What distinguishes it |
|---|---|
| Current model 3316 | Fritz Hansen identifies the chair as model 3316. The consulted configuration has textile upholstery and an aluminium star base with tilt and swivel. [3] |
| Historic hotel chairs | The archive's early hotel and exhibition examples belong to the design history. Their photographs are not specifications for today's selected 3316 configuration. [1] |
What this record does not establish
Current dimensions remain tied to the edition in the specification table. No serial-number dating system, complete shell-material chronology or authentication procedure is supplied. The comparison with Swan is between the recorded configurations, not every historic version.
Evidence for these notes
- Arne Jacobsen Design · The Egg
Designer archive · 1958 presentation, hotel context and archival photographs
- Arne Jacobsen Design · Timeline
Designer archive · Hard-foam technology and sculptural development of Egg and Swan
- Fritz Hansen · Egg 3316
Manufacturer · Model 3316, selected textile and tilt/swivel configuration
Availability
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