Pair of Florence Knoll Teak Nightstands
View Similar Items
Pair of Florence Knoll Teak Nightstands
About the Item
- Creator:Florence Knoll (Designer),Knoll (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 18.25 in (46.36 cm)Width: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)Depth: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Kalamazoo, MI
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU5573232103092
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.
- Florence Knoll T-Bar Coffee TableBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in Kalamazoo, MIThis Florence Knoll T-Bar Coffee Table was designed for Knoll International in the 1960s. Its base is crafted from steel, and it boasts a Formica top that is in good shape for its ag...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Pair of Grete Jalk Danish Teak Side TablesBy Grete JalkLocated in Kalamazoo, MIA pair of teak side tables designed by Grete Jalk and made by P. Jeppesen in Denmark in the 1950s. Beautiful teak tops with sculpted edges that resemble breaking waves and a useful s...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish End Tables
MaterialsTeak
- Florence Knoll T-Bar Coffee Table, 'Black Top'By Florence KnollLocated in Kalamazoo, MIThis classic steel T-Bar coffee table was designed by Florence Knoll in approximately 1952. It still retains its original Knoll Bowtie Label, confirming that it is part of an early K...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Jens Risom Armchair for Knoll AssociatesBy Knoll, Jens RisomLocated in Kalamazoo, MIThis is a beautiful upholstered armchair designed by Jens Risom for HG Knoll & Associates in the 1940s. It is one of the early, iconic chairs that ushered in a period of incredible mid-century modern design. The solid Birch frame cradles a foam cushioned seat that was recently reupholstered in Knoll Maharam fabrics. The fabric is timeless and high-quality, and it suits the lighter birch wood color perfectly. This is more than just a collectible MCM chair...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsBirch
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Walnut End TableBy Edward WormleyLocated in Kalamazoo, MIWalnut side table designed by Edward Wormley for Dunbar. Brass capped feet, lower shelf and interesting overhanging top on one edge. Good vintage condition.Category
Mid-20th Century End Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- Danish Expanding Teak Dining TableLocated in Kalamazoo, MIImported by Morreddi in the 1960s, this Danish Mid-Century Modern teak table expands from a square shape to a larger rectangle. When fully expanded, the table can seat 6-8 people. Th...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsTeak
- 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
- Florence Knoll Nightstand in WalnutBy Florence Knoll, 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 of Florence Knoll White Laminate and Walnut Square Nightstands / End TablesBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in New York, NYPair of American mid-century square nightstands / end tables with white laminate tops above a walnut base with a single drawer, resting on four squar...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsWood, Laminate, Walnut
- Florence Knoll Walnut Nightstands for KnollBy Florence KnollLocated in Cincinnati, OHA pair of dark walnut nightstands each having a single drawer and one with a lower shelve . This very well crafted pair of nightstands with a s...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsWalnut
$3,200 / set - Pair of Danish Teak Nightstands End Tables with Finished BacksidesLocated in Kensington, MDPair of Danish Teak Nightstands End Tables with Finished Backsides Additional Information: Material: Teak Featured at Kensington: the search for the small nightstand is over! ...Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsTeak
- Pair of Danish Teak Rounded Edge Hanging Shelves /Minimalist NightstandsLocated in Kensington, MDPair of Danish Teak Rounded Edge Hanging Shelves / Minimalist Nightstands Additional information: Material: Teak Take your minimalism to new...Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsTeak
Price Upon Request
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.