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Walter Knoll Loveseats

German

Inspired by the Bauhaus — founded in 1919 by Walter GropiusWalter Knoll decided to bet big on modernism. He launched his eponymous German furniture maker in 1925, and the company has been going strong ever since.

Most design lovers are familiar with Knoll, the manufacturer of furniture by Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Marcel Breuer, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and other modernist giants. It was founded by Hans Knoll in 1941 and led after his death by his wife, Florence Knoll, the doyenne of postwar American office interiors. In recent years, the company has added collections by Maya Lin, Rem Koolhaas, Frank Gehry and David Adjaye, among others, and encouraged customers to do what some of them had been doing all along: use Knoll’s “office furniture” at home.

Fewer Americans are familiar with Walter Knoll, the company Hans’s father founded in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1925 and later moved to nearby Herrenberg. That company has existed in the shadow of the larger U.S.-based Knoll for decades.

Both companies descended from the German manufacturer of ornate leather goods established by Wilhelm Knoll in 1866. In 1907, Wilhelm’s sons, Willy and Walter, took over the father’s business and started producing leather club chairs. Five years later, the company introduced its Nestra line of stripped-down wood and leather seating, foreshadowing the family’s future innovations.

In 1925, when he was 50, Walter Knoll launched the Walter Knoll Company, which soon released the revolutionary Prodomo line of chairs, whose upholstered seats and backs are supported by tubular metal frames. Other lightweight Walter Knoll pieces were used in the passenger compartment of the Hindenburg zeppelin.

In 1927, Walter Knoll furnished five apartments designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for the Weissenhof Estate, 21 prototypes of “workers’ housing of the future” constructed as part of an exhibition in Stuttgart. A decade later, Walter’s son Hans, then 24, traveled to the United States to market his father’s furniture and to make a new life for himself in the New World. But inspired by his encounters with Jens Risom — a Danish-born designer who furthered Scandinavian modernism in the United States — Hans broke away from Walter, creating Knoll Associates (now known simply as Knoll). Florence Schust (later to become Hans’s wife) joined him in the company in 1943, and soon they were working with mid-century modern icons such as Saarinen and Bertoia on new designs and licensing Mies’s Barcelona chair.

After the war, with his factories destroyed and labor and materials in short supply, Walter Knoll turned to Hans for help. Hans sent over several pieces from his Vostra line, designed by Risom. Walter replaced the web seats with upholstery and launched his version of the Vostra at the New Living exhibition in Cologne in 1949. It became hugely successful, persuading many Germans still accustomed to traditional furniture to give modernism a go.

Walter Knoll retired in 1964, but his namesake firm continued growing in Germany. Just like the American Knoll, Walter Knoll has found that some customers want to use pieces originally meant as office furniture in their houses. In fact, these pieces give living and dining rooms a crispness that almost no residential furniture can match.

Find vintage Walter Knoll lounge chairs, sofas, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.

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Creator: Walter Knoll
Walter Knoll for Sirino Brayton Leather Sofa
By Walter Knoll, Brayton International
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Beautifully stitched sand tone leather couch. Leather and cushions are in fine condition. Designed by Walter Knoll for Brayton international. Brayton was absorbed by steel case in th...
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Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Walter Knoll Loveseats

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Walter Knoll loveseats for sale on 1stDibs.

Walter Knoll loveseats are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of upholstery and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Walter Knoll loveseats, although gray editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original loveseats by Walter Knoll were created in the mid-century modern style in united states during the mid-20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider loveseats by Thayer Coggin, Dunbar, and Edward Wormley. Prices for Walter Knoll loveseats can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $2,800 and can go as high as $2,800, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $2,800.

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