James Mont Sofas
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.
1950s American Hollywood Regency Vintage James Mont Sofas
Upholstery, Wood
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern James Mont Sofas
Mohair, Wood
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage James Mont Sofas
Leather
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern James Mont Sofas
Velvet, Leather
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern James Mont Sofas
Mohair, Wood
1930s French Modern Vintage James Mont Sofas
Mahogany
20th Century Mid-Century Modern James Mont Sofas
Wood
1940s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage James Mont Sofas
Velvet, Beech
1950s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage James Mont Sofas
Mohair, Velvet, Beech
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage James Mont Sofas
Brass
1970s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage James Mont Sofas
Velvet, Birch
1940s American Art Deco Vintage James Mont Sofas
Velvet, Wood
1950s Mid-Century Modern Vintage James Mont Sofas
Fabric, Wood
20th Century Hollywood Regency James Mont Sofas
Wood
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage James Mont Sofas
Upholstery
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage James Mont Sofas
Brass
1960s American Vintage James Mont Sofas
Upholstery, Wood
1950s American Vintage James Mont Sofas
Silk, Upholstery
1940s American Vintage James Mont Sofas
1950s American Vintage James Mont Sofas
Wood, Mohair, Upholstery
