Original Eero Saarinen Black Marble Tulip Dining Table and Bertoia Wire Chairs
View Similar Items
Original Eero Saarinen Black Marble Tulip Dining Table and Bertoia Wire Chairs
About the Item
- Creator:
- Design:Saarinen Pedestal TableSaarinen Pedestal Series
- Dimensions:Height: 28.75 in (73 cm)Diameter: 59.85 in (152 cm)Seat Height: 17.72 in (45 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 7
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1971
- Condition:Refinished. Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Highclere, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU4278221953362
Pedestal Table
Finnish-American architect and furniture maker Eero Saarinen (1910–61) declared that he “wanted to clear up the slum of legs” crowded beneath tables. Enter his Pedestal collection, which Knoll launched in 1958. The collection included armchairs, stools and tables of various sizes all balanced on a single supporting leg.
Saarinen got his start in furniture as a student at Michigan’s Cranbrook Academy of Art, where his father, architect Eliel Saarinen, was director. Some of Eero’s earliest work was designing furniture for Kingswood, a Cranbrook school for girls that opened in 1931. The pieces included a table with four gathered legs in order to make room for both people and chairs’ legs.
At Cranbrook Academy, Saarinen met Florence Knoll, who would become a lifelong friend and professional partner, especially when she was leading the Knoll furniture company. He also met fellow designer Charles Eames, and — with support from Ray Eames — they created the molded plywood Organic chair, which placed first in the 1940 Organic Design in Home Furnishings competition organized by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. As with Saarinen’s future practice, the Organic chair was emblematic of a design approach that was informed by a consideration of the human body as well as the possibilities of new machine processes.
Although America’s involvement in World War II disrupted plans to manufacture the Organic chair, Saarinen continued to explore organic shapes in industrial design. His interest in using seamless plastic forms was clear with his Pedestal series, but the technology was not advanced enough for their stability. Instead, the Pedestal table and its accompanying Tulip armchairs and armless chairs comprised cast-aluminum bases. Each table, stool and chair was crafted with a single, tapered cylindrical leg that descends to a base that flares into a circle, giving the illusion of being one piece. Like his Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the series’ pieces appear to float, and although austere in silhouette, they reflect intense attention to engineering.
The Pedestal table was released with several additional options, including marble and wood veneer for its round and oval tops for dining, side and coffee tables. Because of their modest footprint on a room and streamlined design, these tables can harmonize with nearly any interior style. The design’s status as a mid-century modern classic has inspired numerous imitators, but Saarinen’s original Pedestal table — still manufactured by Knoll — maintains the grace and quality that distinguishes it from the rest.
Harry Bertoia
Sculptor, furniture and jewelry designer, graphic artist and metalsmith, Harry Bertoia was one of the great cross-disciplinarians of 20th-century art and design and a central figure in American mid-century modernism. Among furniture aficionados, Bertoia is known for his chairs such as the wire-lattice Diamond chair (and its variants such as the tall-backed Bird chair) designed for Knoll Inc. and first released in 1952.
As an artist, he is revered for a style that was his alone. Bertoia’s metal sculptures are by turns expressive and austere, powerful and subtle, intimate in scale and monumental. All embody a tension between the intricacy and precision of Bertoia’s forms and the raw strength of his materials: steel, brass, bronze and copper.
Fortune seemed to guide Bertoia’s artistic development. Born in northeastern Italy, Bertoia immigrated to the United States at age 15, joining an older brother in Detroit. He studied drawing and metalworking in the gifted student program at Cass Technical High School. Recognition led to awards that culminated, in 1937, in a teaching scholarship to attend the Cranbrook Academy of Art in suburban Bloomfield Hills, one of the great crucibles of modernism in America.
At Cranbrook, Bertoia made friendships — with architect Eero Saarinen, designers Charles and Ray Eames and Florence Schust Knoll and others — that shaped the course of his life. He taught metalworking at the school, and when materials rationing during World War II limited the availability of metals, Bertoia focused on jewelry design. He also experimented with monotype printmaking, and 19 of his earliest efforts were bought by the Guggenheim Museum.
In 1943, he left Cranbrook to work in California with the Eameses, helping them develop their now-famed plywood furniture. (Bertoia received scant credit.) Late in that decade, Florence and Hans Knoll persuaded him to move east and join Knoll Inc. His chairs became and remain perennial bestsellers. Royalties allowed Bertoia to devote himself full-time to metal sculpture, a medium he began to explore in earnest in 1947.
By the early 1950s Bertoia was receiving commissions for large-scale works from architects — the first came via Saarinen — as he refined his aesthetic vocabulary into two distinct skeins. One comprises his “sounding sculptures” — gongs and “Sonambient” groupings of rods that strike together and chime when touched by hand or by the wind. The other genre encompasses Bertoia’s naturalistic works: abstract sculptures that suggest bushes, flower petals, leaves, dandelions or sprays of grass.
As you will see on these pages, Harry Bertoia was truly unique; his art and designs manifest a wholly singular combination of delicacy and strength.
Find vintage Harry Bertoia sculptures, armchairs, benches and other furniture and art on 1stDibs.
- White Knoll, Saarinen Calacatta marble tulip dining table with 4 matching chairsBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in Highclere, NewburyAn iconic vintage Eero Saarinen, Knoll white tulip dining set with a Calacatta marble top and 4 matching Saarinen, Knoll vintage tulip chairs with...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Sets
MaterialsMarble, Aluminum
- Frank Gehry Knoll Int. Dinette Featuring 2 Cross Check Chairs and Dining TableBy Frank GehryLocated in Highclere, NewburyA Frank Gehry compact dining set featuring 2 bentwood maple ply Cross Check chairs matched to a maple and glass Face Off dining table manufactured by Knoll International. Originally designed in the late 80’s Gehry’s Cross Check chairs...Category
1990s American Post-Modern Dining Room Sets
MaterialsGlass, Beech
- 4 vintage Eero Saarininen Knoll Inc. Executive armchairs with an oak frame baseBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in Highclere, NewburyA classic set of 4 vintage Eero Saarininen Knoll Inc. executive armchairs in the original Knoll blue fabric with an oak frame base. The Eero Saarinen Executive armchair was featured in nearly every Florence Knoll Mid Century interior throughout the 1950s and beyond. Originally introduced in 1950, the chair transformed the notion of what executive seating could be with its fluid, sculptural form and modern finishing. The timeless and versatile design continues to fit seamlessly into work, conference, lounge and dining applications of any décor. The chair remains as one of the most popular Knoll designs ever with new versions of the armchair, as shown here, in fabric with the wooden light oak base retailing at around £2,000 per chair. And it’s the wooden legs that add to their appeal and was ultimately a big improvement on the original tubular steel frame. They are just warmer and more welcoming, as well as being more aesthetically pleasing. As such the chairs are more often used these days as dining chairs rather than in the office. The chairs are also supremely comfortable and are upholstered in a classic Knoll wool fabric that has different subtle colour flecks within the fabric and that also features a slightly darker colour in the seat. This is an intentional design aesthetic as it helps to maintain the condition and look of the seat with heavier use. They date from the 1990s and remain in very good vintage condition with only light signs of use. This item is sold as a set of 4 chairs but the chairs are also available as a complete dining set matched with a Florence Knoll Walnut table...Category
1990s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsWool, Oak
- 8 Danish Mid Century Arne Hovmand Olsen Teak and Fabric Dining ChairsBy Arne Hovmand-OlsenLocated in Highclere, NewburyA set of eight mid century dark stained teak and fabric rail back dining chairs designed by Arne Hovmand Olsen and produced by Mogens Kold. These Olsen chairs are a classic desig...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Teak
- 4 Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Knoll, MR50 BRNO tubular chrome dining chairsBy Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, KnollLocated in Highclere, NewburyA set of 4 vintage Mies van der Rohe Knoll, MR50 BRNO tubular chrome and black fabric dining chairs. The price listed is for the 4 chairs as shown. Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe at his Tugendhat House in Brno, Czech Republic, the Brno Chair (model number MR50) reflects the ground breaking simplicity of van der Rohe’s design using a simple cantilever frame. There are two versions of the chair; one in tubular steel and the other in flat steel and the original design dates back to 1930. The metal was originally polished stainless steel but more modern examples from around the 1970s onwards were produced in chromed steel by Knoll International and Knoll Studio who have owned the license to the design since the mid 1960s. There have been numerous copies of the chairs made since their inception but the Knoll original chairs that were produced in the last 30 years have become much easier to recognise. As such, all post 1990 chairs...Category
1990s Italian Bauhaus Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsChrome
- 4 chrome and black leather Rud Thygesen and Johnny Sorensen Dark Horse chairsBy Botium, Rud Thygesen and Johnny SorensenLocated in Highclere, NewburyA set of 4 rare and beautiful Rud Thygesen and Johnny Sorensen Dark Horse chairs in chrome and black leather for Botium, 1980s. The playful design el...Category
Vintage 1980s Danish Post-Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsChrome
- Knoll Marble Dining Table With 5 Chairs by Eero Saarinen, 1960sBy Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Oud Beijerland, NLMagnificent and fully original Tulip dining set designed by Eero Saarinen. It is produced by Knoll International in the 1960s. The set consists of 5 original tulip chairs and the o...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsCarrara Marble, Metal
- Knoll "Tulip" Dining Chairs by Eero SaarinenBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in North Hollywood, CAThese stunning tulip dining chairs designed by Eero Saarinen for Knoll are the perfect addition to any modern home. The set of eight chairs includes two with arms and six without, pr...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Ch...
MaterialsAluminum
- Midcentury Tulip Dining Table Set Styled After Eero SaarinenBy Eero SaarinenLocated in North Hollywood, CAMidcentury tulip dining table styled after Eero Saarinen; This beautiful set is just so unique and amazing dining set. It features four...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Tulip Chair by Eero SaarinenBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in Sagaponack, NYA dining chair with an upholstered seat and white enameled cast iron pedestal base.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsIron
$1,200 / item - Eero Saarinen for Knoll Pair of 'Tulip' Dining Chairs in Black FiberglassBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in Waalwijk, NLEero Saarinen for Knoll, 'Tulip' pair of fixed dining chairs, model 151C, fiberglass, aluminum, fabric, United States, design 1955-57, production 1950s/1960s This pair of dining cha...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Early Production Eero Saarinen Tulip Dining Chairs Knoll, New YorkBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in Buffalo, NYauthentic, early production set of Eero Saarinen for Knoll Tulip Chairs, signed . The chairs feature upholstered off white stripped wool blend seat pads, original soft white finish, lightweight yet sturdy construction, original early Knoll "K" 320 Park Ave.paper labels under the cushions, date them to the early 1960s,,One chair has minor chip (paint) to base (see photo)..Hand delivery avail to New York City or anywhere en route from bUFFALO ny Knoll: "With the Pedestal Collection, Eero Saarinen resolved the "ugly, confusing, unrestful world" underneath tables and chairs. The collection is a defining accomplishment of modern design and a timeless addition to your home—a true classic. Pair Tulip Chairs with a Saarinen Table...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsAluminum