Warren McArthur Corporation Side Chairs

American

Few 20th-century designers had influential furniture that regularly flew at 30,000 feet, but Warren McArthur did. His work — and the work of his company, the Warren McArthur Corporation — on seating for military aircraft came near the end of his career, following decades of Machine Age furniture shaped from tubular forms and made of steel, chrome and aluminum.

Warren McArthur Jr. graduated with an engineering degree from Cornell University in 1908. After moving to Los Angeles in 1929, he founded the Warren McArthur Corporation a year later. His initial output of sleek, metal designs were popular in offices and hotels.

At the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, Americans witnessed a new “Streamlined America” campaign, which included everyday furniture made from metal, opening the door for McArthur and other Machine Age designers to a residential audience. With this increase in demand for metal furniture, the Warren McArthur Corporation relocated to Rome, New York, and sold their aluminum furnishings out of a showroom on Park Avenue in New York City.

Actors Marlene Dietrich, Fredric March and Clark Gable were among his A-list clientele. McArthur also produced furniture for the dining cars on the Union Pacific Railroad and the Chrysler Headquarters. His designs were featured in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 1934 exhibition “Contemporary American Industrial Art.”

During World War II, McArthur pivoted production after a ban on the private use of aluminum. McArthur made an estimated three-quarters of all American military aircraft seating, including adjustable seats for the Beechcraft C-45 and revolving seats for navigators aboard the Grumman HU-16 Albatross.

Warren McArthur closed his business in 1948. He died in 1961.

On 1stDibs, find vintage Warren McArthur armchairs, tables and other seating.

Creator: Warren McArthur Corporation

Warren McArthur Streamline Modern Aluminum Chair, Art Deco, 1930s, USA

By Warren McArthur, Warren McArthur Corporation

Located in Brooklyn, NY

Warren McArthur chair, Warren McArthur Corporation, aluminum, leather, copper, rubber, USA, 1930s. Measures: 33½ H × 17 W × 21 D in Provenance: Collection of Stuart Parr Private Collection Warren McArthur Jr. was an innovator in Machine Age/ Art Deco furniture design. McArthur moved from Chicago to Los Angeles in 1929 to pursue metal furniture manufacturing; . he founded the Warren McArthur Corporation there in 1930. His furniture designs while unique were true to the Machine Age aesthetic. Machine Age design emphasized sleek forms inspired by automobiles, locomotives and airplanes. These objects were symbols of progress and modernity to the American consumer and industrial designers began constructing furniture in streamlined designs from steel, chrome and aluminum. Prior to the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, known as the “Century of Progress Exhibition.” The fair’s tagline, “See America Streamlined,” and the abundance of metal furniture and home goods exhibited finally presented the concept of utilizing metal designs in the typical American household. The Museum of Modern Art followed suit in subsequent years with exhibitions like "Machine Art," (1934), and "Bauhaus 1919-1928" (1938), further exposing the American public to this design style. The Warren McArthur Corporation moved manufacturing to Rome, New York in 1933, just as metal furniture was gaining popularity; the company’s products were sold out of a showroom in New York City on Park Avenue. As a manufacturer, McArthur filed numerous patent designs which he utilized in advertisements to exhibit the innovations he developed. The company also proudly printed patent numbers on furniture...

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1930s American Vintage Warren McArthur Corporation Side Chairs

Materials

Aluminum

Warren McArthur Streamline Modern Aluminum Chair, Art Deco, 1930s, USA

Pair of Warren McArthur Pull-Up Chairs, 1930's

By Warren McArthur Corporation, Warren McArthur

Located in Chicago, IL

Pair of Warren McArthur pull-up chairs, 1930's Aluminum tubular frame with back-slats. Manufactured in Rome, New York Decal underside. We reupholstered with new Iron Cloth, a polye...

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1930s American Industrial Vintage Warren McArthur Corporation Side Chairs

Materials

Aluminum

Pair of Warren McArthur Pull-Up Chairs, 1930's

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Mid-20th Century French Brutalist Warren McArthur Corporation Side Chairs

Materials

Elm

Pair of Brutalist Chairs

H 36.23 in W 18.51 in D 16.93 in

Streamline Art Deco Cantilever Chair Chrome & Red Vinyl Attr Kem Webber-Lloyds

By lloyd manufacturing co., Kem Weber

Located in Topeka, KS

Fabulous streamline modern cantilever chair comprised of chrome frame and tomato red vinyl faux leather upholstery attributed to KEM Weber for Lloyd’s Manufacturing. Beautiful condition with wear as you would expect with a vintage piece. This one looks like it was seldom used! Please see photos, Circa Mid Century. WOW!!!! What a gorgeous tomato red streamline modern cantilever chair!!!! Attributed to KEM Weber for Lloyd’s Manufacturing and categorized in many design styles; Art Deco, Machine Age, Streamline Modern, Art Moderne, and Bauhaus. Too many awesome styles to choose just one… So, you pick!! This chair is comprised of a tubular chrome cantilever frame and is upholstered in a bright and beautiful red vinyl faux leather that demands attention. This piece has no tag or markings but is done in the style of the era’s greats: Gilbert Rohde, Wolfgang Hoffman, Warren McArthur, Donald Desky, Alfons Bach, Gilbert Rhode, Marcel Breuer, and from online searches attributed to KEM Weber for Lloyd’s Manufacturing. It doesn’t get much better than that!! You could use this fabulous chair in your living room, bedroom, sitting room, or kitchen. It would be a wonderful chair at a vanity or a stylish place to sit to take off your shoes in the entry way. The possibilities are truly endless. KEM Weber (1889-1963) was a German-born architect and furniture designer. His birth name was Karl Emanuel Martin Weber but in 1914, he changed his first name to a less German sounding, 'Kem' when he became stranded in the USA after the outbreak of the First World War. Kem Architecture was part of the West Coast Modernist movement in America. His designs included many projects and products in Streamline Modern, a form of Art Deco design and architecture that was extremely popular in the USA and Europe in the 1930s. This style emphasized curved forms and long horizontal lines; it was the epitome of sophistication and modernity in that era. Streamline Modern was used for everything from stainless steel cocktail shakers...

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Mid-20th Century American Streamlined Moderne Warren McArthur Corporation Side Chairs

Materials

Chrome

Streamline Art Deco Cantilever Chair Chrome & Red Vinyl Attr Kem Webber-Lloyds

H 31 in W 20.75 in D 22 in

Rare Early 20th Century Dentist Chair, ca 1930s

Located in Uppsala, SE

Rare early 20th century dentist / medical chair made in white painted wood with dark green leather upholstered seat and neck rest. The neck rest is height adjustable so it would accommodate both adults and children when in use. The seat also has a very modernist pattern made with upholsterers decor nails similar to that of German/Swedish designer Otto Schulz and what he used on his cabinets. The high back style of chair is also very much associated with the grand father of Scottish design Charles Rennie...

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1930s Swedish Art Deco Vintage Warren McArthur Corporation Side Chairs

Materials

Wood

H 33.5 in W 24.75 in D 26 in

Previously Available Items

Warren McArthur 4 Early Folding Chairs California, 1932-1933

By Warren McArthur Corporation, Warren McArthur

Located in Camden, ME

A Warren McArthur set of 4 early folding chairs. These chairs predate the self standing folding chairs that he produced tens of thousands of over a thirty year period. The flattened...

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1930s American Art Deco Vintage Warren McArthur Corporation Side Chairs

Materials

Aluminum

Warren McArthur 4 Early Folding Chairs California, 1932-1933

H 34 in W 16.5 in D 19 in

Warren Mcarthur Corporation side chairs for sale on 1stDibs.

Warren McArthur Corporation side chairs are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of metal and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Warren McArthur Corporation side chairs, although gray editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original side chairs by Warren McArthur Corporation were created in the industrial style in united states during the 1930s. Prices for Warren McArthur Corporation side chairs can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $4,060 and can go as high as $8,000, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $6,030.