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George Nelson for Herman Miller 'Basic Cabinet Series' Dresser, c. 1955, Signed

About the Item

This fantastic chest of drawers was designed by George Nelson for Herman Miller, part of the 'Basic Cabinet Series' and also called 'Primavera', this dresser is signed with a 1950's Herman Miller foil label. Newly refinished, this beautiful piece is ready to be placed in an interior designer or collectors home, office or studio. Ideal for collectors, the foil Herman Miller label dates to 1951 - 1956 years of production making it a sought after piece. This dresser cabinet, which can also be used as a bedside table / nightstand features the more rare and more desirable signature round handles vs the more common and less desirable rectangular aluminum drawer pulls. Three nicely sized drawers with ample space for storage needs, sitting on top of Nelson's signature ebonized legs. Original 'George Nelson Design, Herman Miller, Zeeland Michigan' foil label in upper drawer. From Herman Miller about the Basic Cabinet Series: "We’ve become a mobile society; we no longer live and die in the house in which we were born, we don’t stay in the same community for generations. We rent apartments, buy up to bigger homes, and downsize to condos when we retire. Matched furniture suites designed to fill specific rooms don’t work very well for us anymore. What happens to those pieces when we move and they don’t fit? Nelson understood that systems of modular components were the wave of the future. With the Basic Cabinet Series, he created a way to accommodate changing needs for storage and surfaces. The size and purpose of a room doesn’t matter. The interchangeable components allow you to create beautiful storage solutions for your big great room or your small living room. The system starts small in your small apartment and welcomes additional components if you move into larger spaces. As with everything George Nelson designed, it’s all about the flexibility and efficiency. And the good looks, of course." This Primavera dresser by George Nelson for Herman Miller would work great in a Mid-Century Modern, Space Age Mod, Scandanavian Modern or Danish Modern home or penthouse apartment but could also look fantastic in a Post-Modern, Contemporary or Zen / Minimalism room. Also consider mixing it up in a Traditional, Transitional, Hollywood Regency, Classical or Art Deco room with a splash of juxtaposition. Would also be an apt choice in a commercial project such as a hotel lobby lounge or members club, creative design studio or high-rise executive office. MEASUREMENTS: H 29.5" x W 34" x D 18.5" CONDITION: Newly refinished, ready for immediate use.

Creator:

George Nelson (Designer)

Design:

Basic Cabinet Series

Dimensions:

Height: 29.5 in (74.93 cm)Width: 34 in (86.36 cm)Depth: 18.5 in (46.99 cm)

Style:

Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Wood

Place of Origin:

United States

Period:

1950-1959

Date of Manufacture:

c 1955

Condition:

Refinished. Newly refinished, ready for immediate use.

Seller Location:

Los Angeles, CA

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU1330230028112

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Shop All George Nelson

George Nelson

Architect, designer, and writer George Nelson was a central figure in the mid-century American modernist design movement; and his thoughts influenced not only the furniture we live with, but also how we live.

Nelson came to design via journalism and literature. Upon receiving his bachelor’s degree in architecture from Yale in 1931, he won the Prix de Rome fellowship, and spent his time in Europe writing magazine articles that helped bring stateside recognition to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Gio Ponti, Le Corbusier and other canonical modernist architects. In the 1940s, Nelson wrote texts that suggested such now-commonplace ideas as open-plan houses, storage walls and family rooms. D.J. De Pree, the owner of the furniture maker Herman Miller, was so impressed by Nelson that in 1944 — following the sudden death of Gilbert Rohde, who had introduced the firm to modern design in the 1930s — he invited Nelson to join the company as its design director.

There Nelson’s curatorial design talents came to the fore. To Herman Miller he brought such eminent creators as Charles and Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi, and the textile and furniture designer Alexander Girard. Thanks to a clever contract, at the same time as he directed Herman Miller he formed a New York design company, George Nelson & Associates, that sold furniture designs to the Michigan firm, as well as its competitor, the Howard Miller Clock Company. Nelson’s New York team of designers (who were rarely individually credited) would create such iconic pieces as the Marshmallow sofa, the Coconut chair, the Ball clock, the Bubble lamp series and the many cabinets and beds that comprise the sleek Thin-Edge line.

For dedicated collectors, as well as for interior designers who look beyond “the look,” there is a “cool-factor” inherent to vintage pieces from George Nelson and others. Nelson was in on it from the start, and it’s valuable to have a piece that was there with him. But still, as is evident from the offerings from dealers on these pages, in any of the designs, in any iteration whose manufacture Nelson oversaw and encouraged, there are shining elements of lightness, elegance, sophistication — and a little bit of swagger. George Nelson felt confident in his ideas about design and didn’t mind letting the world know.