Pair of Gilbert Rohde pieces : secretary / bookcase.
View Similar Items
Pair of Gilbert Rohde pieces : secretary / bookcase.
About the Item
- Creator:Gilbert Rohde (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 42 in (106.68 cm)Width: 40 in (101.6 cm)Depth: 17 in (43.18 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1945
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Minor structural damages.
- Seller Location:Isle sur la Sorgue, FR
- Reference Number:Seller: 20461stDibs: 1309189427147
Gilbert Rohde
Pioneering self-taught industrial designer, writer and teacher Gilbert Rohde helped define the earliest phase of modernism in the United States. He is one of the most influential figures of 20th-century design and is credited with helping legendary mid-century modern furniture manufacturer Herman Miller avert financial disaster during the Great Depression.
Born in New York City, Rohde studied painting at the Art Students League after high school. He found lucrative employment, first as a political cartoonist and then as a catalog illustrator for American department stores. He was particularly enthralled with drawing furnished interiors.
Rohde began to design furniture in his spare time. He traveled to the Bauhaus school in Germany and the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, and drew on the Art Deco movement and the work of designers such as Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann in his early pieces. Rohde opened his own studio in 1929 and secured private and commercial commissions. His clients would come to include formidable furniture makers Heywood-Wakefield and Troy Sunshade, and his innovative bentwood furnishings for them were practical and intended for the modern consumer.
In 1930, Rohde met Herman Miller founder D.J. De Pree in the company’s Michigan showroom during a business trip. By then, Rohde had a long list of prominent clients and his furniture had been exhibited in museums and galleries. Herman Miller was weathering a devastating slowdown in business, and the American furniture industry had generally been hit hard by the Great Depression.
Rohde boldly informed De Pree that the brand’s furniture had become outdated, which was part of the reason the company was in financial jeopardy. Homes had become smaller and could no longer accommodate the large Gothic– and Victorian–style furnishings and traditional reproductions of period bedroom suites that Herman Miller was offering at the time, Rohde explained.
Rohde secured a contract to design for the Michigan manufacturer. He championed the use of exotic woods and tubular steel, and created streamlined, unadorned bedroom furniture for Herman Miller — collections that included convenient vanities, which were unconventional pieces for De Pree’s company back then.
In 1933, Rohde oversaw the design of two bedrooms featuring sleek Herman Miller furniture — including innovative storage pieces he designed — as part of an International–style exhibit at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. The installation garnered acclaim for De Pree’s brand all over the world and afforded Rohde the opportunity to execute on his visionary ideas in front of a global audience. Rohde later designed lighting, seating and more for Herman Miller and was extensively involved in the company's marketing strategy and other areas of the business.
In 1942, Herman Miller, anticipating a postwar economic boom, began to produce office furniture for the first time, but its legacy is in the home. Working with legendary designers such as Ray and Charles Eames, Isamu Noguchi and Alexander Girard, the manufacturer fostered some of the boldest expressions of what we now call mid-century modern style.
Find vintage Gilbert Rohde coffee tables, lounge chairs, table lamps and other items on 1stDibs.
- Gilbert Rohde 'Paldao Group' Modular Bookcase SystemBy Herman Miller, Gilbert RohdeLocated in Brooklyn, NYRare 3-piece storage system, one of the earliest modular furniture designs, veneered in exotic Paldao burl door-fronts and figured Paldao sides. The dark stain finish is original and beautiful, with a rich rosewood color. The drop-down secretary door is set with an elegantly cast brass knob, and opens to a hidden desk...Category
Vintage 1940s American Art Deco Bookcases
MaterialsBrass
$5,500 / item - Gilbert Rohde Paldao Secretary Display Case for Herman MillerBy Herman Miller, Gilbert RohdeLocated in Brooklyn, NYBookcase with drop-front secretary desk and storage drawers in paldao wood. Glass dividers separate storage compartments, and cork-lined back. Retains Herman Miller tag. Great origin...Category
Vintage 1940s American Art Deco Bookcases
MaterialsPaldao
- Painted Italian Secretary BookcaseLocated in WEST PALM BEACH, FLThis is a lovely, decorative Italian secretary, painted overall with floral sprays against a pale yellow ground with light blue demarcations. The dom...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Other Bookcases
MaterialsWood
- European Whitewashed Secretary BookcaseLocated in Westwood, NJA wonderful designed modernized 18th century style secretary bookcase with a whitewashed exterior, with a carved cartouche mounted the center of the arched and molded crown with carv...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Country Secretaires
MaterialsWood
$18,086 / item - Russian Mahogany Secretary BookcaseLocated in New York, NYRussian (18th Century) mahogany secretary bookcase with brass gallery pediment and trim with 2 front doors revealing 3 drawers and shelves ...Category
Antique Late 18th Century Russian Empire Secretaires
MaterialsBrass
- George III Mahogany Secretary BookcaseLocated in Westwood, NJElegant Georgian style cabinet with classical pediment, geometric glazing bars over the twin doors with three adjustable shelves within, the lower section with a fall front, fully li...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese George III Secretaires
MaterialsMahogany
$18,900 / item