Knoll Furniture

A 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...

An exceptional set of 12 cream leather vintage Knoll Studio Mies van der Rohe chairs matched to a large an impressive Matteo Grassi cream leather and glass dining table. The price shown is for all 12 chairs and the table including the glass top. These chairs are one of the very first cantilever design chairs ever designed by van der Rohe. Comfortable and perfectly balanced they have become one of the most enduring designs of the 20th Century with manufacturing starting in 1927 and still continuing to this day. Originally designed as a dining chair they work equally well as side chairs or as a set of funky office meeting room or conference chair. Originally known as the Weissenhof chair (after the exhibition it was first launched at) and produced by Gebrüder Thonet within Europe, the license to produce the chairs in the U.S. was later acquired by Knoll International who started production in the late 1950’s. The chrome work was imprinted with Knoll’s branding from around the 1990’s and are also identified by a number of key indicators: apart from weight and the general quality of craftsmanship, the Knoll version of the chair is recognised by the lace back and base which along with the offset chrome seat stretcher and small rear back slide stop hooks are key signatures of Knoll’s original production method. This set was produced, by reference to the previous owners who had owned them since new, in the 1990’s. They remain in very good vintage condition with light signs of use as the chairs were rarely used during their lifetime. This amounts to some light marks, denting and stretching of the leather, and light scratches in the chrome. There are no tears or rips in the leather and no rust or flaking of the chrome; all the chairs also benefit from having both the impressed Knoll Studio branding in the rear chrome support and the Knoll label on the underneath of the leg frame as shown in the photographs. The chairs are matched to a beautifully designed and constructed Matteo Grassi cream leather and glass dining table. This large and impressive table has a steel core base that has been upholstered in cream leather and that features a thick glass, floating table top. Matteo Grassi had a long history of producing high quality and finely crafted saddlery going as far back as 1880, and this shines through in the quality of the construction and stitching on all of their products. Like many of their designs the point of identification is that the metal framework is an analogy for the human skeleton with the leather acting as the ‘skin’ that shrouds the frame. The Matteo Grassi family company first came to the notice of interior designers and retailers when the Korium series of chairs were first introduced in 1978. This was the first design they produced under their own name after they moved into mainstream furniture production. This change was based on their increasing involvement in furniture prototyping in the previous 10 years that saw them create and develop bespoke designs for many leading architects and designers. They have ever since been known for producing quality pieces of furniture including the MG5 cantilever chair. This table is the Gazelle model and was produced from the late 1990s through to around 2010 and features their trademark stitching and thick leather; it really is a rare and beautiful table and one that is almost impossible to find on the resale market. It’s constructed of a heavy metal frame with adjustable pads that support a thick glass, racetrack oval shaped top that simply floats above the frame. Whilst it is a very well made and solid piece, it can still be moved by two strong people. This particular table dates from the late 90s and is in excellent condition with only very light marks to the frame and glass – there are no chips in the glass edge. The table has the Matteo Grassi imprint on leather plaques on the underneath of the main frame. As you can see by reference to the photographs, the table can accommodate 12 chairs, but also works well with 10, or 8 chairs too. On this basis you can adapt the seating to your needs and maybe only have all 12 chairs out for larger gatherings and special occasions. Whilst both the chairs and table were designed for the domestic environment the set would work equally as well in an office setting as a funky meeting room or conference table set. This complete set can be purchased via this listing here, but 12 Knoll MR10...

An exceptional set of 12 cream leather vintage Knoll Studio Mies van der Rohe MR10 chairs with lace backs and base and original Knoll branding. Price shown is for the set of 12. These chairs are one of the very first cantilever design chairs ever designed by van der Rohe. Comfortable and perfectly balanced they have become one of the most enduring designs of the 20th Century with manufacturing starting in 1927 and still continuing to this day. Originally designed as a dining chair they work equally well as side chairs or as a set of funky office meeting room or conference chair. Originally known as the Weissenhof chair (after the exhibition it was first launched at) and produced by Gebrüder Thonet within Europe, the license to produce the chairs in the U.S. was later acquired by Knoll International who started production in the late 1950’s. The chrome work was imprinted with Knoll’s branding from around the 1990’s and are also identified by a number of key indicators: apart from weight and the general quality of craftsmanship, the Knoll version of the chair is recognised by the lace back and base which along with the offset chrome seat stretcher and small rear back slide stop hooks are key signatures of Knoll’s original production method. This set was produced, by reference to the previous owners who had owned them since new, in the mid 1990’s. They remain in very good vintage condition with light signs of use as the chairs were rarely used during their lifetime. This amounts to some light marks, denting and stretching of the leather through use, and light scratches in the chrome. There are no tears or rips in the leather and no rust or flaking of the chrome and all the chairs have both the impressed Knoll Studio branding in the chrome and the Knoll label as shown in the photographs. The concept of using metal tubing as a supporting structure in chair design is credited to the British manufacturer RW Winfield who produced campaign chairs in a cantilever design for the Great Exhibition in 1851. This original design was known and documented to have been an inspiration to both Marcel Breuer and van der Rohe. Breuer was the first to produce a design in chrome pipe work and inspired by the curved handlebars of his Adler bicycle he designed the Wassily chair in 1925. Although this was not a cantilever chair it helped to establish a base production method that was built on by others. This resulted in the first true cantilever chrome chair, the S33, being designed by Mart Stam...

Vintage Mid Century dining set featuring a circular Walnut and chrome Florence Knoll dining table matched to 4 Eero Saarinen Knoll Executive armchairs...

An iconic Eero Saarinen, Knoll International white tulip dining set with a rare Verdi marble topped table and 4 matching tulip chairs. This is a classic and iconic combination that...

Vintage iconic dining set featuring a Le Corbusier textured glass Cassina LC6 table matched to 6 chrome and black leather Mies van der Rohe MR10 dini...

A Classic midcentury dining set comprising an original black Nero Marquina marble Eero Saarinen round tulip dining table matched to 6 original bla...

A classic mid century dining set comprising an original white marble Eero Saarinen round tulip dining table matched to 4 x white Harry Bertoia wir...

A truly exceptional example of this Classic late 1950s leather office task chair designed by Vincent Cafiero for Knoll. Featuring the original thick cognac paneled leather this ch...

A large vintage wooden dining table with Walnut veneer and black ‘tulip’ base dating from the late 1980s. This is an iconic design da...

Two matching vintage white Carrara marble tables with black pedestal bases dating from the late 1980s. Designed by Eero Saarinen in 1956 and produced by Knoll International, and subs...

A superb set of 6 black leather and chrome lace back Mies van der Rohe MR10 cantilever chairs produced by Knoll International. These chairs are a design icon being one of the very first cantilever design chairs ever designed by van der Rohe. Comfortable and perfectly balanced they have become one of the most enduring designs of the 20th Century with manufacturing starting in 1927 and still continuing to this day. Originally known as the Weissenhof chair (after the exhibition it was first launched at) and produced by Gebrüder Thonet within Europe, the license to produce the chairs in the U.S. was later acquired by Knoll International who started production in the late 1950’s. Although the chrome work was imprinted with Knoll’s branding much later in production, around the 1990’s, earlier versions were not marked. However, they are still reliably identified by a number of key indicators: apart from weight and the general quality of craftsmanship, the Knoll version of the chair is recognised by the lace back and sprung seat base which along with the offset chrome seat stretcher and small rear back slide stop hooks are key signatures of Knoll’s original production method. This set was believed to have been produced, by reference to the previous owners who had owned them since new, in the early 1970’s and remain in very good vintage condition with general signs of wear commensurate with age. This amounts to some light marks, denting and stretching of the leather through use, and light scratches and pitting in the chrome. However, as you can see from the photographs, these are difficult to show as the wear on each chair is minimal given their 45+ years of service. There are no tears or rips in the leather and no rust or flaking of the chrome. The concept of using metal tubing as a supporting structure in chair design is credited to the British manufacturer RW Winfield...