Knoll Chairs
Mid-century modern design in America wouldn’t look the way it does without Knoll. The company’s acclaimed seating — lounge chairs, armchairs, office chairs and other furnishings created by a who’s who of designers and by Knoll’s pioneering cofounder, Florence Knoll (1917–2019) — helped define high-rise corporate culture and was rapidly adopted for use in living rooms, where it endures as a timeless favorite all over the world.
“Many of the designs that he had at that time were ones that I did not approve of,” Florence Knoll once recalled of her German-born husband, Hans Knoll (1914–55), the son of German modernist furniture manufacturer Walter Knoll. A native of Michigan, Florence already had a world-class immersion in design when she met Hans. Orphaned at age 12, she was enrolled at Kingswood School, part of the Cranbrook Academy of Art, which became the go-to school for legends of mid-century design. Florence became very close with Cranbrook head Eliel Saarinen, his wife and their son, Eero. She later studied with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and worked for Marcel Breuer and Bauhaus school founder Walter Gropius. When Florence married Hans in 1946, he had been at work since 1938 on his own eponymous furniture line in New York City.
With Florence’s design acumen, the Knolls turned the company into a powerhouse of modernist design. The Knoll Planning Unit, created by Florence in the mid-1940s, designed office spaces for the likes of GM and CBS, helping to define the postwar corporate aesthetic. The department’s small team designed furniture with practicality, efficiency and sleekness in mind, attributes that clearly define furnishings such as Eero Saarinen’s sculptural Executive chair, which was introduced in 1948 as the Model 72 and used for the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan. (The armed version, which followed in 1950, was also specified for the campus, an architectural project of Saarinen’s.) This seating, as well as pieces designed by Florence initially for commercial clients, soon became desirable for apartments and houses.
Knoll collaborated with an all-star cast of designers, including Saarinen, whose Womb chair arose from Florence’s request for “a chair that was like a basket full of pillows.” The catalogue includes some of the century’s most recognizable forms: Saarinen’s Tulip chairs, Harry Bertoia’s wire-lattice Diamond chair, the Cyclone table by artist Isamu Noguchi and pieces by Massimo and Lella Vignelli, Jens Risom, Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who granted Knoll exclusive permission to produce his designs. The manufacturer continues to produce the only authorized version of the elegant and oft-copied Barcelona chair, which Mies created in collaboration with designer Lilly Reich, his creative and romantic partner.
By 1950 — when production for Knoll was moved to East Greenville, Pennsylvania — more than one third of the designs in the company’s portfolio were Florence’s own. She thought of her furniture as “meat and potatoes,” mere practicality. “People ask me if I am a furniture designer,” she once said. “I am not. . . . I designed the fill-in pieces that no one else was doing.” But decades later, her own designs, like the Florence Knoll sofa, with its clean architectural lines, and her Bauhaus-inspired Lounge chair, are icons in their own right.
In 2021, Knoll was acquired by Herman Miller, another legendary American furniture manufacturer that turned a number of designers into mid-century household names. The combined company intends to operate under the name MillerKnoll.
Find a collection of vintage Knoll dining chairs, sofas and other seating on 1stDibs.
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Oak
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Chrome
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Stainless Steel
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Metal
1960s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Steel
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Steel
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Metal
1970s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Knoll Chairs
Chrome
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Metal
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Metal
1960s American Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Metallic Thread
1950s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Upholstery, Birch
1940s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Beech
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Steel
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Metal
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Steel
1970s European Vintage Knoll Chairs
Chrome
20th Century Italian Modern Knoll Chairs
1990s Central American Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Leather
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Chrome, Metal
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Metal
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Chrome
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Fabric, Birch
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Stainless Steel
1990s American Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Nylon, Wood
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Metal
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Oak, Fabric
1970s European Vintage Knoll Chairs
Chrome
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Chrome
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Fabric, Wood
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Maple
1970s North American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Aluminum, Chrome
1970s European Scandinavian Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Fiberglass
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Cotton, Hardwood
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Metal
1980s American Post-Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Wood
1970s Italian Vintage Knoll Chairs
Leather
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Metal
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Stainless Steel
Early 2000s American Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Metal
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Metal
1960s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Fabric, Wood
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Walnut, Fabric
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Fabric, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Knoll Chairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Stainless Steel
1980s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Chrome
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Knoll Chairs
Steel
1990s Italian Post-Modern Knoll Chairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Metal
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Knoll Chairs
Aluminum
Knoll chairs for sale on 1stDibs
Creators Similar to Knoll
- Where are Knoll chairs made?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022Knoll maintains manufacturing plants in the United States, Canada, and Italy. Countless designers have worked for Knoll over the years to create exquisite furniture that’s beloved by collectors worldwide. Shop a collection of antique and contemporary Knoll chairs from some of the world’s top sellers on 1stDibs.