Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen Oxford Highback Swivel Chairs

The Oxford chair was designed in 1963-1965 by the legendary Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen (1902-1971), originally created as part of his groundbreaking total design for St. Catherine's College at the University of Oxford.

Jacobsen approached the task with deep respect, and the high-backed "Professor Chair" was designed specifically for the elevated table where the college fellows dined, creating a symbolic space of authority and prestige that distinguished the dons from the students seated at lower benches . Following the college's completion, Fritz Hansen launched the chair for  production at the furniture fair in Fredericia in 1965, and Jacobsen later received an honorary doctorate from Oxford University in recognition of the project's outstanding success .

The Oxford chair is defined by its sculptural single-shell construction—a moulded veneer of seven layers of birch, shaped to follow the curvature of the human back . Unlike Jacobsen's earlier shell chairs such as the Ant and Series 7, the Oxford shell is bent in only one direction and lacks the characteristic narrow waist, creating a slender, majestic silhouette that is clearly visible in profile . The shell is padded with HR foam and upholstered in premium leather. The chair is mounted on a satin-polished aluminium swivel base with a four-star configuration