John and Elinor McGuire Furniture
Like so many artists and designers, husband and wife John McGuire (1920–2013) and Elinor Stevenson (1914–2005) became masters in their trade by accident. For the founders of McGuire Furniture Company, well, furniture wasn’t actually in the plans.
The couple met just before the start of World War II (during which John was in the U.S. Navy and Elinor was a navigation instructor) and got married after it ended. They settled down in San Francisco where John held a couple of jobs — among them selling newspaper ads for the San Francisco Examiner while Elinor worked for Boeing Aircraft. Soon, an old Navy buddy of John’s asked him to help sell a bunch of rattan furniture and, needing the money, John agreed. His side business became so successful that John decided to quit his ad-sales job and work full-time in design.
In 1948, McGuire Furniture Company was born. Alongside the mid-century modern furniture designs then gaining popularity in the United States, John introduced an unconventional idea: traditional armchairs, stools and tables made of natural materials such as bamboo, which was strong yet could be rendered pliable when steamed, that were intended for the indoors rather than the front porch.
The brand’s first success was the now famous Director’s X-Chair by Leonard Linden. The military-campaign-style solid oak folding chair launched in 1956 and saw rattan binded with rawhide strips and a high-grade leather slug seat and back that eliminated the need for a plush cushion. Elinor, too, designed some of the brand’s popular pieces, such as 1968’s Cracked Ice chair. With its rattan oval back a dazzling celebration of geometric forms that give it its charming moniker, the Cracked Ice chair was an instant classic and is one of the brand’s most recognizable designs.
Today, McGuire and another American furniture manufacturer, Baker Furniture Company, comprise Baker Interiors Group. McGuire remains true to the founders’ ideals and commitment to crafting the kind of organic modern furnishings that are synonymous with the warm and relaxed feel of California design. The company has collaborated with interior designers Steven Volpe, Orlando Diaz-Azcuy and Nicole Hollis, and, as of 2019, its luxury furnishings share a 16,500-square-foot showroom with Baker’s in San Francisco. Some of the earliest McGuire Furniture Company designs are part of the permanent collection at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City.
Find a wide range of vintage John and Elinor McGuire furniture on 1stDibs.
1970s American Modern Vintage John and Elinor McGuire Furniture
Bamboo, Cane
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern John and Elinor McGuire Furniture
Bamboo, Cane, Rattan
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern John and Elinor McGuire Furniture
Bamboo, Wicker, Cane
1960s Danish Scandinavian Modern Vintage John and Elinor McGuire Furniture
Cane, Teak
1970s American Hollywood Regency Vintage John and Elinor McGuire Furniture
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage John and Elinor McGuire Furniture
Bamboo
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern John and Elinor McGuire Furniture
Bamboo
1950s Italian Chinoiserie Vintage John and Elinor McGuire Furniture
Bamboo, Wicker
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage John and Elinor McGuire Furniture
Bamboo, Rattan
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern John and Elinor McGuire Furniture
Bamboo
Late 20th Century Philippine British Colonial John and Elinor McGuire Furniture
Faux Bamboo, Bamboo, Rattan, Wood
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage John and Elinor McGuire Furniture
Metal, Brass
Mid-20th Century French Chinoiserie John and Elinor McGuire Furniture
Bamboo
