Little Giraffe chair – Fritz Hansen

Arne Jacobsen, 1959/2018

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Little Giraffe chair Fritz Hansen – Arne Jacobsen, 1959/2018

The Giraffe table chair was designed in 1959 for the restaurant of the SAS Royal Hotel - the same hotel for which Jacobsen designed the Egg, the Swan and several other famous models. The Giraffe had a high back - the origin of its nickname - and a wooden base.

Then Arne Jacobsen experimented several times, creating a special version in leather on a pivoting star base that he gave to the hotel manager, and a version with a low back and metal base, the Petite Girafe. Although designed in 1959, this Petite Girafe had never been put into production until Republic of Fritz Hansen decided to publish it in 2018.

Versatile and comfortable, the Petite Girafe can be used every day in hotel lobbies, dining rooms or meeting rooms. Whatever the space around it, the Petite Girafe tells the story of Danish design in the mid-20th century, with its excellence of design and its pure, timeless style that adapts perfectly to any style of environment.

Dimensions W64 x D62 x H89 cm – Seat height 46 cm
Base chrome or black powder coated
Removable upholstery The Little Giraffe is available with a fixed or removable cover, allowing it to be cleaned or even changed. In both cases, the chair is upholstered without glue, using a double seam that highlights beautifully its silhouette. The seamless seat cushion offers great comfort while maintaining a look faithful to the original Giraffe. Note that leather chairs are not available in a removable version.
Warranty 5 years

▸ Fabrics and Leathers

Examples :

Christianshavn 1132
(price group 0) / chrome

Christianshavn 1121
(price group 0) / black

Christianshavn 1110
(price group 0) / chrome

Capture 5901
(price group 1) / black

Capture 6001
(price group 1) / chrome

Christianshavn 1150
(price group 0) / black

Christianshavn 1150
(price group 0) / chrome

Christianshavn 1174
(price group 0) / chrome

Grace Walnut leather (price group 5) / black

Arne Jacobsen

Arne Jacobsen was born on February 11, 1902 in Copenhagen. His father, Johan Jacobsen, is a wholesale trader in safety pins and snap fasteners. His mother, Pouline Jacobsen, a bank clerk, paints floral motifs in her spare time. The family lived in a typical Victorian style home. As a contrast to his parents’ overly decorated taste, Arne paints his room in white.

Background & school relations

He met the Lassen brothers at Nærum Boarding School: later, Flemming Lassen was to become his partner in a series of architectural projects. Arne Jacobsen is a restless pupil, always up to pranks, with a self-deprecating humour. Already as a child, he showed an extraordinary talent for drawing and depicting nature through scrupulous studies. He wants to be painter, but his father felt that architect was a more sensible choice.

The Pleasant and the necessary trips abroad

Jacobsen’s travelling begin already in his twenties, when he went to sea to New York. Then followed an apprenticeship as a bricklayer in Germany and a series of study and drawing excursions to Italy. Jacobsen produced some of his finest watercolours during this period, capturing atmospheres and shapes accurately and carefully. From the beginning of his career, Jacobsen turned his gaze abroad, without abandoning Danish traditions.

Arne Jacobsen behind the design

Jacobsen production reflects his personality: an insistent, perfectionist modernist, to whom no detail was trivial, although the main picture was basically black/white and unambiguous. On the other hand, the nature-loving botanist and jovial family man: like him, his work is precise and warm, Danish and universal, modern and timeless.