Design by Joe Colombo, 1965.
Made in Italy by Kartell.

Kartell pays homage to one of the most iconic – and perhaps uncharacteristic – pieces in its archive with the reissue of Joe Colombo's 4801 Armchair. Originally designed by the Italian master in 1965, the 4801 chair is famous for being the only Kartell piece ever to be made entirely of wood. Now, nearly fifty years later, Kartell has developed the complex and technically challenging engineering methods necessary to produce the design as originally envisioned, in its signature plastic.

A limited number of wood 4801 chairs were produced in the 1960s, crafted with a bent pressed plywood seat, back and frame fitted together without any metallic parts or glue, painted in of-the-era hues of white, green, orange and black. As a tribute to Colombo and the company's history with the legendary designer, Kartell has revisited the 4801 design with advanced industrial molding technologies. The second generation of the 4801 chair, available in a numbered series, captures the curving sinuous lines and exact proportions of Colombo's original design, now in sleek transparent, white and black plastic (PMMA).

An authentic symbol of design in the 1960s, the highly sought-after 4801 chair is revered by private collectors and institutions alike, and has been displayed internationally at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.