Rare Walter Lamb Long Bench
View Similar Items
Rare Walter Lamb Long Bench
About the Item
- Creator:Walter Lamb (Designer)
- Dimensions:Width: 72 in (182.88 cm)Depth: 24 in (60.96 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950's
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: U1206049278205D
Walter Lamb
Forward-looking architect Walter Lamb is best known for his revolutionary and widely loved patio furniture — he salvaged metal tubing from sunken ships in Pearl Harbor in the 1940s to create alluring chaise longues and other pieces for the backyard. His vintage furniture designs have been adorning patios worldwide for almost a century.
Trained as an architect at the University of California Berkeley campus, Lamb found himself in Hawaii during the 1940s. This period was a time of growth for furniture designers and manufacturers, as veterans were returning to the United States, getting married and starting families. These folks needed practical furniture for their new homes, and as the movement we now call mid-century modern took shape, imaginative architects and furniture makers would fill that need. Lamb was one such innovator.
Lamb worked the shaped tubing and fittings he’d gathered from battleship wreckage into proper frames and wrapped the structures in marine-grade cotton cording to create comfortable, element-proof outdoor furniture. Today his patio furniture has an esteemed place in the history of design. In fact, furniture enthusiasts are eager to restore and collect his iconic aged furniture rather than purchase reproductions.
Postwar California would become reputable as a manufacturing center for versatile furniture intended for both indoor and outdoor spaces. Seating, tables and other items — often made with rattan — produced by the likes of McGuire and Brown Jordan became a defining feature of organic modern living, a style that still characterizes many California interiors and influences innumerable design firms. Pasadena’s then-new Brown Jordan picked up Lamb’s designs, which eventually included dining tables, side tables and coffee and cocktail tables. And along with these furnishings, Lamb's sculptural vintage seating — his curvaceous lounge chairs and armchairs with cotton cord seats — while perfect for your fire pit, shouldn’t be relegated to outdoors-only settings.
Lamb received much acclaim for his work. The Museum of Modern Art in New York recognized his 1940s-era outdoor furniture for Brown Jordan with a design award.
On 1stDibs, find a noteworthy collection of vintage Walter Lamb furniture.
- Benna Long BenchBy Da ALocated in Milan, ITPart of a series of indoor-outdoor benches that can be combined together in infinite compositions, this bench is a testament to minimalist elegance. Marked by essential, geometric li...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Benches
MaterialsSteel
$3,420 / item - Sculptural Red Fiberglass Bench by Walter PapstBy Walter PapstLocated in Los Angeles, CAStunning sculptural fiberglass bench by Walter Papst for Wilkhahn. Made in Germany, in the 1960s. Beautiful and simplistic design. Single piece of fib...Category
Vintage 1960s German Benches
MaterialsFiberglass
- Sculptural Outdoor Fiberglass Bench by Walter Papst, 1960s GermanyBy Walter PapstLocated in Los Angeles, CAStunning sculptural fiberglass bench by Walter Papst for Wilkhahn. Made in West Germany, in the 1960s. Beautiful and simplistic design. Single piece of fiberglass sculpted with great...Category
Vintage 1960s German Benches
MaterialsFiberglass
- Dovetailed Corner Long Bench in MahoganyBy Brian HolcombeLocated in Princeton, NJIn designing this bench I took cues from sashimono, seeking a outwardly simple aesthetic which gives way to more elaborate detail upon a closer look. In building this bench I utilize...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Benches
MaterialsMahogany
$3,800 / item - Walter Lamb for Brown Jordan Bronze Patio Rocking ChairBy Brown Jordan, Walter LambLocated in Los Angeles, CAA bronze rocking chair designed by Walter Lamb and produced by Brown Jordan. The chair has a sculptural shape, with a single formation of tubular bronze forming the backrest, arms, e...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
MaterialsBronze
- Walter Lamb for Brown Jordan Bronze Patio Three Seater SofaBy Walter Lamb, Brown JordanLocated in Los Angeles, CABronze three seater sofa by Walter Lamb for Brown Jordan. The sofa has a beautiful curved construction in tubular bronze with a patinated verdigris finish. The sofa has two rounded supports at the middle of the sofa and a stretcher that runs the length of the piece. The arm rests carry the same curved detail with double bronze tubing. This sofa retains its original vinyl cording...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
MaterialsBronze