Some chairs are for sitting. The Egg is for retreating. With its high, curved back and wings that wrap around your shoulders, it creates a small private room inside a larger one. That idea, designed by the Danish architect Arne Jacobsen in 1958, has made the Egg chair one of the most recognisable pieces of furniture of the twentieth century, and it is still made today by the Danish company Fritz Hansen.
What is the Egg chair
The Egg is an upholstered lounge chair on a swivel base. Its shell is a single sculpted form, enclosing the sitter on three sides while leaving the front open. There are no straight lines anywhere on it. A matching footstool is often sold alongside, and the chair can tilt and swivel, which makes it as comfortable for reading as it is for conversation.
The shape looks organic, almost grown rather than built, and that impression is deliberate. Jacobsen reportedly worked it out by hand, sculpting models in plaster and clay rather than drawing it on paper, and it grew out of his earlier experiments with molded seating such as the Ant chair.
The SAS Royal Hotel story
The Egg was not designed in isolation. According to the Arne Jacobsen estate, it was created in 1958 for the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, a building Jacobsen designed for Scandinavian Airlines. When it opened in 1960 it was the city's first skyscraper, and Jacobsen designed nearly everything inside it, from the facade and the lobby to the cutlery, door handles and lamps. The Egg and its lower, more open sibling, the Swan, were made to soften the lobby and lounges, adding curves to a strict modern interior.
That total design approach is a big part of why the Egg feels so complete. It was meant to sit within a carefully planned space where every object related to every other. Today, one room at the hotel, now run under a different name, is kept as it was in Jacobsen's day as a reminder of the original vision.
How it is made
The Egg's technical breakthrough was its shell. Instead of building a wooden frame and padding it, Jacobsen used a new technique: a rigid shell of hard foam, reinforced inside, then covered with a layer of softer foam and upholstered by hand in fabric or leather. That process made the seamless, continuous curves possible. Each chair still requires many hours of skilled work, with the cover stretched and stitched to follow the shape without wrinkles.
The chair was launched at Fritz Hansen, which has produced Jacobsen's furniture for decades, and it was shown in Paris in 1958 at an exhibition of Scandinavian design. It has been in production ever since, offered in many fabrics and leathers, with a polished aluminium swivel base.
Egg chair original vs replica
Because it is so famous, the Egg is also one of the most copied chairs in the world. If you are shopping for one, especially secondhand, look for these signs of the real thing:
- Maker's markings. Authentic chairs carry Fritz Hansen labels and identification under the seat or on the base.
- Proportions. Copies often get the curve of the wings or the height of the back slightly wrong, which changes how the chair wraps around you.
- Upholstery. The original is covered by hand with tight, even seams and no puckering around the curves.
- Base and mechanism. The swivel and tilt should feel smooth and solid, with a quality cast base.
- Paperwork. A reputable dealer can show provenance, receipts or certificates.
Buying an original supports the maker and the estate, and a genuine Egg tends to hold its value over time.
Egg chair vs other design icons
The Egg sits in a small group of mid century lounge chairs that changed how people imagined comfort at home.
- The Eames Lounge Chair (1956). Molded plywood and leather, a more masculine, club chair feel. See our Eames Lounge Chair explainer.
- The Panton Chair (1967). A single piece of plastic, playful and stackable, from another Danish designer. Read our Panton Chair guide.
- The Wishbone Chair (1949). Hans J. Wegner's woven seat dining chair, a gentler, craft focused take on modern design. Our Wishbone Chair article tells the story.
What sets the Egg apart is its sense of enclosure. The others are about form and material. The Egg is about creating a quiet space for one person.
Why it is a design icon
The Egg captured the optimism of the late 1950s: new materials, new building types and the idea that modern design could be warm and human rather than cold. It also embodies the Danish modern principle that everyday objects should be both beautiful and comfortable. Our guide to Scandinavian design explores that philosophy further. More than sixty years later, the Egg still turns heads in hotel lobbies, offices and homes, and it still does exactly what Jacobsen intended. It makes you want to sit down and stay.
Living with one
An Egg chair needs space. Its wings and swivel take up more room than a standard armchair, and it looks best with a little air around it, angled toward a window or a fireplace. Pair it with a simple floor lamp for reading, and choose a fabric or leather that suits how the room is used. Wool fabrics feel softer and warmer, while leather ages and develops character over the years.
Explore more objects that shaped design history in our design icons hub.
