James Mont Furniture
James Mont’s life as an unmistakably talented furniture designer and interior decorator could fill the pages of a best-selling novel or be reimagined as a Hollywood feature film. From the 1930s through the 1960s, Tinseltown’s glitterati and Manhattan’s Mafia underworld coveted his sofas, coffee tables and table lamps.
Mont was born Demetrios Pecintoglu in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1904 to a family of artists. He reportedly studied architecture and art in Spain and France, and during the 1920s, Mont immigrated with his family to the United States.
Mont and his family settled in New York, where he found work in a Brooklyn electrical supply shop. There he sold hardware and designed his own lighting fixtures. The latter caught the eye of a gangster named Frankie Yale, who commissioned him to refurnish his house. Mont’s opulent designs drew on Art Deco, Hollywood Regency and were occasionally marked by chinoiserie, then a very popular trend in decorating. He created the kind of low-profile side tables and sofas that are frequently associated with mid-century modernism, and he is credited today with helping popularize the integration of Asian influences in modern American design.
Mont soon attracted New York City’s most infamous crime bosses, including Charles “Lucky” Luciano and Frank Costello. For a range of mobsters, he created fashionable, functional and sophisticated pieces such as collapsible home bars that would fold down and out of view — a particularly convenient feature during Prohibition — and tables and desks with secret drawers, which were also handy to Mont’s shady clientele.
“You bought a bar from him, and he would also deliver booze in a baby carriage,” antiques dealer and furniture retailer Todd Merrill told New York about Mont in 2008.
Mont designed a room for the World’s Fair in 1939 and later befriended Hollywood celebrities such as Bob Hope, who was best man at his wedding, Irving Berlin and Lana Turner. During the 1940s and ‘50s, Mont continued designing furniture, mastering finishing techniques such as lacquering and incorporating a distinctive “leafing” print effect with silver and gold into his pieces.
Mont’s designs enjoyed a resurgence in the 1990s, and his pieces continue to be sought after by collectors.
On 1stDibs, discover a range of vintage James Mont sideboards, tables and storage cabinets.
Early 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern James Mont Furniture
Metal
Early 20th Century American Hollywood Regency James Mont Furniture
Aluminum
1950s Vintage James Mont Furniture
19th Century Antique James Mont Furniture
Walnut
Mid-20th Century Italian Hollywood Regency James Mont Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century French Brutalist James Mont Furniture
Elm
Late 20th Century Hollywood Regency James Mont Furniture
Metal
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage James Mont Furniture
Mahogany
1950s American Vintage James Mont Furniture
Wood
Mid-20th Century American Hollywood Regency James Mont Furniture
Metal
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern James Mont Furniture
Plywood
1960s American Hollywood Regency Vintage James Mont Furniture
Brass, Bronze
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern James Mont Furniture
1970s Hollywood Regency Vintage James Mont Furniture
Brass
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage James Mont Furniture
Gold Leaf
Mid-20th Century American Hollywood Regency James Mont Furniture
Chenille, Foam, Walnut
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern James Mont Furniture
Leather, Wood
