Pair of Walnut Nightstands or Side Tables by Florence Knoll, ca. 1951
View Similar Items
Pair of Walnut Nightstands or Side Tables by Florence Knoll, ca. 1951
About the Item
- Creator:Florence Knoll (Designer),Knoll (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 18.25 in (46.36 cm)Width: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)Length: 18.25 in (46.36 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1951
- Condition:Refinished. Showroom condition.
- Seller Location:Costa Mesa, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1384226592872
Florence Knoll
Architect, furniture designer, interior designer, entrepreneur — Florence Knoll had a subtle but profound influence on the course of mid-century American modernism. Dedicated to functionality and organization, and never flamboyant, Knoll shaped the ethos of the postwar business world with her polished, efficient design and skillfully realized office plans.
Knoll had perhaps the most thorough design education of any of her peers. Florence Schust was orphaned at age 12, and her guardian sent her to Kingswood, a girl’s boarding school that is part of the Cranbrook Educational Community in suburban Detroit. Her interest in design brought her to the attention of Eliel Saarinen, the Finnish architect and head of the Cranbrook Academy of Art. Saarinen and his wife took the talented child under their wing, and she became close to their son, the future architect Eero Saarinen. While a student at the academy, Florence befriended artist-designer Harry Bertoia and Charles and Ray Eames. Later, she studied under three of the Bauhaus masters who emigrated to the United States. She worked as an apprentice in the Boston architectural offices of Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer; Ludwig Mies van der Rohe taught her at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
In 1941, she met Hans Knoll, whose eponymous furniture company was just getting off the ground. They married in 1946, and her design sense and his business skills soon made Knoll Inc. a leading firm in its field. Florence signed up the younger Saarinen as a designer, and would develop pieces by Bertoia, Mies and the artist Isamu Noguchi. Her main work came as head of the Knoll Planning Group, designing custom office interiors for clients such as IBM and CBS. The furniture Florence created for these spaces reflects her Bauhaus training: the pieces are pure functional design, exactingly built; their only ornament from the materials, such as wood and marble. Her innovations — the oval conference table, for example, conceived as a way to ensure clear sightlines among all seated at a meeting — were always in the service of practicality.
Since her retirement in 1965, Knoll received the National Medal of Arts, among other awards; in 2004 the Philadelphia Museum of Art mounted the exhibition “Florence Knoll: Defining Modern” — well deserved accolades for a strong, successful design and business pioneer. As demonstrated on these pages, the simplicity of Knoll’s furniture is her work’s great virtue: they fit into any interior design scheme.
Knoll
As a company that produced many of the most famous and iconic furniture designs of the 20th century, Knoll was a chief influence in the rise of modern design in the United States. Led by Florence Knoll, the firm would draw stellar talents such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Eero Saarinen into its compass. Their work would help change the face of the American home and office.
The company was formed in 1938 by the German immigrant Hans Knoll. He first worked with his fellow ex-pat, the Danish designer Jens Risom, who created furniture with flowing lines made of wood. While Risom served in World War II, in 1943 Knoll met his future wife, Florence Schust. She had studied and worked with eminent emigré leaders of the Bauhaus, including Mies, Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. She won Knoll over with Bauhaus notions of industrial arts, and an aesthetic that featured flat and tubular metal frames and angular forms. When Hans died in a car crash in 1955, Florence Knoll was appointed head of the company. It was as much through her holistic approach to design — a core division of the firm was dedicated to planning office systems — as Knoll's mid-century modern furnishings themselves that she brought about the sleek and efficient transformation of the American workplace.
Today, classic Knoll furnishings remain staples of modern design collections and decor. A history of modern design is written in pieces such as the elegant Barcelona chair — created by Mies and Lilly Reich — Saarinen’s pedestal Tulip chair, Breuer’s tubular steel Wassily lounge chair and the grid-patterned Diamond chair by Harry Bertoia.
As you can see from the collection of these designs and other vintage Knoll dining chairs, sofas and tables on 1stDibs, this manufacturer's offerings have become timeless emblems of the progressive spirit and sleek sophistication of the best of modernism.
- Pair of Ico Parisi Italian Walnut and Marble Side Tables, ca. 1960By Ico ParisiLocated in Costa Mesa, CAPair of Ico Parisi Italian Walnut and Marble Side Tables, ca. 1960. Walnut star bases float on top of the tripod star base with sculpted legs and feet. Base has been professionall...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsCarrara Marble
$3,196 Sale Price / set20% Off - Pair of Kipp Stewart and Stewart McDougall Walnut Nighstands, ca. 1960Located in Costa Mesa, CAPair of Kipp Stewart and Stewart McDougall Walnut Nighstands, ca. 1960. Beautiful matched pair of walnut nightstands or side tables by Kipp Stewart and Stewart McDougall for Drexel....Category
Vintage 1960s Night Stands
MaterialsWalnut
$2,396 Sale Price20% Off - Pair of Ebonized Oak Wishbone Dining Chairs by Hans J. Wegner, ca. 1955By Hans J. WegnerLocated in Costa Mesa, CABeautiful pair of vintage Hans J. Wegner CH24 "Wishbone" chairs in ebonized oak and woven paperboard seats. Very good vintage condition the seats have recently been re-woven with per...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsOak
$1,995 Sale Price / set27% Off - Pair of Vintage Brass Cathedral Mirrors, ca. 1960Located in Costa Mesa, CAPair of Vintage Brass Cathedral Mirrors, ca. 1960. Beautiful pair of brass framed cathedral mirrors in very good original condition. The beveled glass...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsBrass
$2,300 Sale Price / set34% Off - Pair of Russell Woodard Sculptura Outdoor Chairs, ca. 1950By Russell WoodardLocated in Costa Mesa, CAPair of Russell Woodard Sculptura Outdoor Chairs, circa 1950. Professionally restored with new white gloss powder coat. All welds are...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
MaterialsSteel
$1,760 Sale Price / set20% Off - Eero Saarinen for Knoll Boucle Womb Chair, 2019By Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Costa Mesa, CAEero Saarinen for Knoll Boucle Womb Chair, 2019. Covered in custom Flax Boucle from Knoll. The expressive sculptural forms of the Eero Saarinen Wom...Category
21st Century and Contemporary North American Mid-Century Modern Lounge C...
MaterialsBouclé
- Clean Lined Walnut and Iron Tables or Nightstands by KnollBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Atlanta, GAClean lined "T Angle" model walnut mid century tables or night stands, designed by Florence Knoll for Knoll, American, circa 1950s. Early ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsIron
- Florence Knoll Nightstand in WalnutBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Houston, TXFlorence Knoll nightstand in walnut Knoll, USA, 1956. Walnut. Measures: 18 W x 18 D x 20 H inches. Nightstand has a single drawer ab...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsWalnut
- Pair Mid-Century Walnut with white laminate Top Nightstands by Florence KnollBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in BROOKLYN, NYPair of beautiful Florence knoll single drawer nightstands or side tables. Walnut single drawer nightstands with clean white laminate tops. Solid Oak drawers with single white divide...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsWalnut, Laminate, Oak
- Pair of Florence Knoll Side TablesBy Florence KnollLocated in Dallas, TXA pair of early brushed steel tables with ebonized wood tops. Designed by Florence Knoll for Knoll.Category
Vintage 1950s Side Tables
MaterialsSteel
$2,800 / set - Pair of Brush stainless Steel and Granite Side Tables by Florence KnollBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in Palm Springs, CAIconic 1960’s pair of side tables designed by Florence Knoll for Knoll Associates. The frames are brushed stainless steel with off white granite tops. This came out of NBC Studios....Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsGranite, Stainless Steel
- Florence Knoll Square Walnut Coffee TableBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Los Angeles, CADesigned by Florence Knoll in the 1950s, this simple coffee table has four square legs of chromed steel. The square tabletop sits flush with the frame and is made of a walnut veneer....Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsChrome
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
10 Trailblazing Female Designers
From pioneering visionaries to contemporary talents, get to know some of the most important women in design.
Remembering Design Visionary Florence Knoll Bassett (1917-2019)
A loving look back at the life and career of a doyenne of mid-century-modern style, who died last week at the age of 101.