Charlotte Perriand Les Arcs

Although Charlotte Perriand is best known for the steel tubular furniture she made with Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret in the late 1920s, the iconic French designer preferred working with wood. She designed chairs, stools, wall lamps and other items in the 1960s as part of a suite of furniture for Les Arcs, a ski resort in the French Alps known, in part, for being Perriand’s last major architectural project. 

Perriand’s Les Arcs furniture demonstrates how modernist figures like her brought good design to the masses. The pine wood used for the property's seating and tables, which came from the region (Savoie), was affordable, and the designs were sturdy and reproducible on a large scale, as well as beautiful.

Perriand didn’t just design furniture at Les Arcs, she created a concept. As the lead architect, she situated the mass housing to minimally disrupt the natural landscape, and the units were designed with open plans so that women wouldn’t be alone in the kitchen, cut off from social interactions. She outfitted her lodges with stylish furniture designs in pine and tan leather, and her then-radical living concept quickly became the Alpine norm. Today, Perriand's furnishings for Les Arcs are hard to come by. 

“Perriand’s furniture has become increasingly rare, as her pieces are highly collectible and sought after,” says 1stDibs seller Adrian Agudo, of 20th-century design specialists DADA. “Her work from the Les Arcs project, in particular, appears on the market infrequently.”

Find vintage Charlotte Perriand Les Arcs furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

With entire areas of our homes reserved for “sitting rooms,” the value of quality antique and vintage seating cannot be overstated.

Fortunately, the design of side chairs, armchairs and other lounge furniture — since what were, quite literally, the early perches of our ancestors — has evolved considerably.

Among the earliest standard seating furniture were stools. Egyptian stools, for example, designed for one person with no seat back, were x-shaped and typically folded to be tucked away. These rudimentary chairs informed the design of Greek and Roman stools, all of which were a long way from Sori Yanagi's Butterfly stool or Alvar Aalto's Stool 60. In the 18th century and earlier, seats with backs and armrests were largely reserved for high nobility.

The seating of today is more inclusive but the style and placement of chairs can still make a statement. Antique desk chairs and armchairs designed in the style of Louis XV, which eventually included painted furniture and were often made of rare woods, feature prominently curved legs as well as Chinese themes and varied ornaments. Much like the thrones of fairy tales and the regency, elegant lounges crafted in the Louis XV style convey wealth and prestige. In the kitchen, the dining chair placed at the head of the table is typically reserved for the head of the household or a revered guest.

Of course, with luxurious vintage or antique furnishings, every chair can seem like the best seat in the house. Whether your preference is stretching out on a plush sofa, such as the Serpentine, designed by Vladimir Kagan, or cozying up in a vintage wingback chair, there is likely to be a comfy classic or contemporary gem for you on 1stDibs.

With respect to the latest obsessions in design, cane seating has been cropping up everywhere, from sleek armchairs to lounge chairs, while bouclé fabric, a staple of modern furniture design, can be seen in mid-century modern, Scandinavian modern and Hollywood Regency furniture styles.

Admirers of the sophisticated craftsmanship and dark woods frequently associated with mid-century modern seating can find timeless furnishings in our expansive collection of lounge chairs, dining chairs and other items — whether they’re vintage editions or alluring official reproductions of iconic designs from the likes of Hans Wegner or from Charles and Ray Eames. Shop our inventory of Egg chairs, designed in 1958 by Arne Jacobsen, the Florence Knoll lounge chair and more.

No matter your style, the collection of unique chairs, sofas and other seating on 1stDibs is surely worthy of a standing ovation.