Egg Table

Furniture

1952

Egg Table

The Egg Table from 1952 was part of a table series designed by Arne Jacobsen to accompany the famous Ant chair. Like the Ant, the tables were designed as small, lightweight pieces that fit perfectly into modern homes and public spaces.

YEAR:

1952

The Egg table accompanied by Ant chairs. Photo: Fritz Hansen

Arne Jacobsen designed the Egg table in 1952, the same year as Fritz Hansen’s launch of his pioneering Ant chair. The egg-shaped tabletop links the table to another of Arne Jacobsen’s masterpieces: the famous Egg lounge chair from 1958.

The Egg table was part of a series of tables called 3600 with thin, oblique legs in chromium-plated tubular steel with struts in the upper part. Like the Ant, the tables were designed as small, lightweight pieces that fit perfectly into modern kitchens and canteens. Arne Jacobsen often used the small tables to furnish his buildings, including Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium (now Novo Nordisk) from 1952 and Rødovre Town Hall from 1956.

Arne Jacobsen designed the original table series, then named 3600, to accompany the Ant. Photo: Stjernegaard Fotografi.

The Ant
Manufactured by

Fritz Hansen

Detail of the Egg table. Photo: Fritz Hansen.

The Series 3600 included several tables, including one with a square table top and drop leaves. Photo: Stjernegaard Fotografi.

In a comment on the Ant chair, Arne Jacobsen famously said, ‘Why should a chair have four legs when three are enough?’ With its three legs, the Egg table reveals a similar ambition of functional and visual lightness and simplicity.

Arne Jacobsen designed the original table series, then named 3600, to accompany the Ant. The pioneering design of the Ant chair was driven by Arne Jacobsen’s ambition of rationalizing both form and material consumption as much as possible and creating a small chair that would fit into canteens and the small dining nooks of modern flats. In a comment on the Ant chair, Arne Jacobsen famously said, ‘Why should a chair have four legs when three are enough?’ With its three legs, the Egg table reveals a similar ambition of functional and visual lightness and simplicity.

The canteen at Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium with Arne Jacobsen's Ant chair and tables from series 3600, 1950s. Photo: Novo Nordisk History Collection.

The ambition of creating new, functional furniture for the modern home was one that Arne Jacobsen shared with many leading furniture designers at the time, both in Denmark and abroad. In the late 1940s, for example, the American architect couple Charles (1907–1978) and Ray Eames (1912–1988) launched their DTM table and DCM chair that, like Arne Jacobsen’s Ant chair and accompanying tables, utilized the properties of plywood to make small, lightweight, sturdy furniture. Like the Egg table, the Eameses’ DCM tables has thin tubular-steel legs with struts attached to the upper part, but their visual expression differs due to the thickness of the tabletop, which is necessary for the folding function. In contrast, Arne Jacobsen highlighted the lightness and elegance of the design by bevelling and rounding the edges of the tabletop.

Arne Jacobsen often used tables from Series 3600 in his design of public interiors. When he designed the new canteen at Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium (now Novo Nordisk) in the 1950s, he used the tables in combination with his brand new Ant chair to create a modern and relaxed atmosphere for the company’s employees.

Sources: Arne Jacobsen Design Archives. / Arne Jacobsen’s scrapbooks. The Royal Library – Danish Art Library. / Arne Jacobsen’s scrapbooks. The Royal Library – Danish Art Library. / Stenum Poulsen, K., Skaarup Larsen, A., & Staunsager, S. (2020). Arne Jacobsen – Designing Denmark. Kolding: Trapholt. / Thau, C., & Vindum, K. (1998). Arne Jacobsen. Copenhagen: Arkitektens Forlag.