Stendig De Sede DS 600 "Nonstop" Sectional Sofa
By Eleanora Peduzzi-Riva, Heinz Ulrich, and Ueli Berger, Stendig Co.
Located in Astoria, NY
Ueli Berger, Elenora Peduzzi-Riva, and Heinz Ulrich for Stendig De Sede, DS 600 "Nonstop" Sectional
Leather
Sold
H 30 in W 61 in D 140 in
Mid-Century Modern De Sede 600 Nonstop Curved Leather Sectional Sofa in Cognac
By Ueli Berger, Stendig Co., De Sede
Located in Philadelphia, PA
A long articulating sofa designed by Ueli Berger, produced by De Sede, and distributed by Stendig
Leather, Wool, Wood
Stendig Co. played a pivotal role in introducing modern European furniture to the American market, thanks to the business acumen of founder Charles Stendig.
Around 1950, the Brooklyn, New York–born Stendig (1924–2024) worked for Raymor, a purveyor of modern china and accessories that is best known for distributing designer Russel Wright’s American Modern line of ceramics. While at Raymor, Stendig focused on the company’s less popular pieces that were made in Italy and Scandinavia, recognizing their potential for the American market. In 1955, he left the company and decided to establish Stendig Co.
That year, a chance encounter with a Finnish trade representative led him to furniture company Asko — one of the largest companies operating in Scandinavia. Asko invited him and Joseph Carreiro, a professor at the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts), to help refine their designs.
At Asko’s production facility in Finland, Stendig met several renowned Finnish designers such as Ilmari Tapiovaara, Tapio Wirkkala and Eero Aarnio, the iconic Ball chair creator. Stendig’s trip there was a success, and Stendig Co. began importing Finnish furniture to the United States.
In 1956, the first Stendig Co. showroom opened in Manhattan. A year later, during a trip to Zurich, Stendig came across a Bauhaus–inspired furniture store featuring pieces by Swiss designers Kurt Thut, Hans Eichenberger and Robert Haussmann, the store’s co-owner. Following a meeting with Haussmann, Stendig became the retailer’s exclusive U.S. distributor.
Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, Stendig Co. imported and sold furniture from influential European designers, including Swiss designer Bruno Rey, Italian architect and industrial designer Vico Magistretti and Hungarian-American architect and designer Marcel Breuer, creator of the Wassily lounge chair.
By the late 1960s, Stendig Co. moved its headquarters to an expansive space on Manhattan’s East Side and opened showrooms in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago, each home to the company’s striking collection of mid-century European armchairs, sofas, dining room chairs, coffee tables and other furnishings. Stendig’s founder was by then representing Italian manufacturers Poltronova and Gufram and bringing revolutionary works of Italian Radical design to American shores.
In 1971, Charles Stendig sold the company to Burlington Industries. He retired in 1976. Today Stendig’s European imports are coveted by interior designers and vintage furniture collectors, and he will be forever known as the man who introduced modern European design to the United States.
Find a range of vintage Stendig Co. furniture on 1stDibs.
Organically shaped, clean-lined and elegantly simple are three terms that well describe vintage mid-century modern furniture. The style, which emerged primarily in the years following World War II, is characterized by pieces that were conceived and made in an energetic, optimistic spirit by creators who believed that good design was an essential part of good living.
ORIGINS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
CHARACTERISTICS OF MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
ICONIC MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE DESIGNS
VINTAGE MID-CENTURY MODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
The mid-century modern era saw leagues of postwar American architects and designers animated by new ideas and new technology. The lean, functionalist International-style architecture of Le Corbusier and Bauhaus eminences Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius had been promoted in the United States during the 1930s by Philip Johnson and others. New building techniques, such as “post-and-beam” construction, allowed the International-style schemes to be realized on a small scale in open-plan houses with long walls of glass.
Materials developed for wartime use became available for domestic goods and were incorporated into mid-century modern furniture designs. Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen, who had experimented extensively with molded plywood, eagerly embraced fiberglass for pieces such as the La Chaise and the Womb chair, respectively.
Architect, writer and designer George Nelson created with his team shades for the Bubble lamp using a new translucent polymer skin and, as design director at Herman Miller, recruited the Eameses, Alexander Girard and others for projects at the legendary Michigan furniture manufacturer.
Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi devised chairs and tables built of wire mesh and wire struts. Materials were repurposed too: The Danish-born designer Jens Risom created a line of chairs using surplus parachute straps for webbed seats and backrests.
The Risom lounge chair was among the first pieces of furniture commissioned and produced by celebrated manufacturer Knoll, a chief influencer in the rise of modern design in the United States, thanks to the work of Florence Knoll, the pioneering architect and designer who made the firm a leader in its field. The seating that Knoll created for office spaces — as well as pieces designed by Florence initially for commercial clients — soon became desirable for the home.
As the demand for casual, uncluttered furnishings grew, more mid-century furniture designers caught the spirit.
Classically oriented creators such as Edward Wormley, house designer for Dunbar Inc., offered such pieces as the sinuous Listen to Me chaise; the British expatriate T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings switched gears, creating items such as the tiered, biomorphic Mesa table. There were Young Turks such as Paul McCobb, who designed holistic groups of sleek, blond wood furniture, and Milo Baughman, who espoused a West Coast aesthetic in minimalist teak dining tables and lushly upholstered chairs and sofas with angular steel frames.
Generations turn over, and mid-century modern remains arguably the most popular style going. As the collection of vintage mid-century modern chairs, dressers, coffee tables and other furniture for the living room, dining room, bedroom and elsewhere on 1stDibs demonstrates, this period saw one of the most delightful and dramatic flowerings of creativity in design history.
An antique, new or vintage sectional sofa is a versatile and practical style of seating that makes for a great addition to your living space.
A traditional sofa is typically a long upholstered seat that features a back and arms and is intended for two or more people, whereas a sectional sofa consists of multiple pieces that can be arranged in several different layouts. While a conventional couch or sofa can definitely seat a fixed number of houseguests, sectional sofas allow for customizing. We all know that maximizing your square footage in a small space can prove difficult, so the modular characteristics of sectional sofas are especially appealing when you’re thinking about design ideas for your modest-sized living room. This furnishing can be arranged in a semicircle, an L-shape or other configuration and will seat more people than a standard sofa will.
When it comes to home decor, the trick is to find a balance between functionality and style. Sectional sofas are available in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, colors and fabric options, so you’re sure to find one that perfectly complements your interiors and needs. But there are several factors to consider when choosing the perfect sectional sofa for your space.
According to Charleston designer Angie Hranowsky, “the most important thing to know when choosing the perfect sofa is its purpose. Is it for conversation or for watching TV and lounging? Then you can determine the right depth and seat height.”
The size of your sectional sofa will depend on how much real estate you’re working with in your living room and exactly how you use the space. If you’re trying to define a common area in your sprawling loft apartment or you’ve got a large family to think about, a large, sleek contemporary sectional or sculptural sectional sofa designed by Milo Baughman, say, could be ideal for comfort as well as a conversation piece, particularly if you intend to entertain with regularity. Think about seat height and depth — high seats, for example, can yield an air of formality that might not be a great fit for your crowd.
For movie nights, holiday parties or the occasional but totally fabulous dinner party, a large sectional sofa means getting multiple uses out of a singular piece of seating. In smaller rooms, it might make sense to position your small sectional sofa against the wall, whereas in a wide-open space, the sofa’s components can occupy the center of the room. Measure accordingly and make sure your doorways can accommodate on delivery day.
Bring comfort and class to your living space with a sectional sofa from the world’s best dealers on 1stDibs. For your mid-century modern-inspired living room, find fun spage-age sectional sofas, chic leather sectional sofas and a range of vintage mid-century sectional sofas designed by the likes of Harvey Probber, Vladimir Kagan and others.