Oksen Lounge Chair 4201

Overview

The Oksen™ Lounge Chair 4201 was designed by Arne Jacobsen and introduced in 1966. The product page describes an easy chair whose sharp, powerful look dominates a room, and says its introduction surprised design connoisseurs worldwide after about five years of design experiments. It is described as the largest and most controversial chair Arne Jacobsen ever designed.

Construction

• Frame: wooden parts connected with steel components; the column and mounting plate are steel, the five-star base is die-cast aluminium (fact sheet)
• Seat: seat cushion of foam and a mix of feathers and down; the neck and back cushion is moulded polyurethane foam
• Upholstery: leather only; the back is handstitched like the Egg™ while the front side is sewn (fact sheet)
• Base: the original, recognisable Arne Jacobsen 5-star base; swivel, with a return mechanism available for the column

Image source: Fritz Hansen — Oksen Lounge Chair 4201 · © Fritz Hansen and the respective rights holders. Quoted to accompany INTEBEE's independent design commentary and research. · View official product page ↗ · Image use & copyright policy

Specifications

• H 115 × W 101 × D 87 cm
• Seat height 43 cm, armrest height 58 cm

'The bull'

The fact sheet sets Oksen against the organic, soft lines of the Swan™ and the Ant™ that Arne Jacobsen was known for: when it first appeared in 1966 it came as a surprise to design connoisseurs worldwide. Reflecting its name, which means 'the bull' in Danish, Oksen was big, bold and powerful. Fritz Hansen relaunched the chair in 2017, and the sheet calls it an outstanding yet somewhat overlooked Arne Jacobsen furniture piece.

Five years of experiments

According to the sheet, Oksen was not designed for a specific architectural project but was the product of years of experimenting: Jacobsen returned to it with many variations in the years 1962-66 before it took shape in 1966. The sheet names the American recliner type that Jacobsen had seen in the United States as the clear inspiration, and sees it as a counter-reaction to the perception of Jacobsen as a designer who worked with soft sculptural form. It places the style between the soft Royal furniture and the tighter Oxford™ furniture in Fritz Hansen's collection.