Jan Ekselius got his international breakthrough with the Etcetera lounge chair from 1970 that he made as his degree project from Royal College of Art in London. The technique of the chair came from the car industry with polyeurethane foam that was moulded directly onto a thin metal net that was hanged on springs attached to a steel frame. Ekselius took Etcetera with him back to Sweden where the family company JOC Möbel in Vetlanda launched it at the Stockholm Furniture Fair in 1971.
Etcetera became a great success, and all the 500 copies produced were sold out rapidly. In 1971 the chair Etcetera III was launched, and later two tables and a sideboard became a part of the collection that was sold all over the world during the 1970’s.
In 1982 Ekselius designed the chair Victor made of laminated birch. Victor was the result of Ekselius search for the perfect chair, while using the technique of laminated wood inspired by among others Alvar Aalto. The chair was a part of JOC venture into more modern furniture design and became a success for the company. Soon after the Ekselius family enterprise JOC was taken over by the Swedish office furniture company EFG.
Jan Ekselius founded his own design studio in 1984, called Etcetera focusing on steel furniture for public spaces. Symfoni (1994-98) and Rubber (2002) for Italian company Crassevig are two examples of Ekselius later designs. Ekselius is represented at among others the Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Furniture Studies, both in Stockholm.
