Mid-Century Modern Arthur Umanoff Walnut Record Holder/Magazine Rack, circa 1960
View Similar Items
Mid-Century Modern Arthur Umanoff Walnut Record Holder/Magazine Rack, circa 1960
About the Item
- Creator:Arthur Umanoff (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 12 in (30.48 cm)Width: 18.5 in (46.99 cm)Depth: 16 in (40.64 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:San Francisco, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1280214430221
Arthur Umanoff
Though much of Arthur Umanoff’s furniture is marked by a no-frills simplicity common in American mid-century modern design, his work is anything but one-note. Over the course of a prolific career, Umanoff designed everything from case pieces to candleholders to dining chairs in iron, leather, walnut, wicker and more. With furnishings for a broad range of manufacturers throughout the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and early ’80s, Umanoff continued a thread of sculptural elegance and textural sensitivity through his designs.
After graduating from Pratt Institute in the early 1950s, Umanoff experimented mostly with wood furniture before landing a job at Post Modern Ltd, a New York manufacturer of wrought-iron furniture. There he produced furnishings that married wrought iron with wood and plastic, creating functional pieces free of utilitarian bulkiness. Umanoff continued his experimentation with mixed materials through a partnership with Shaver Howard, for whom he designed wine racks in combinations of iron, leather and wicker.
When Shaver Howard bought Boyeur Scott, Umanoff conceived several furniture designs for the brand, including the 1964 Granada collection, whose curlicue iron bases, visible through glass tops, stand out as some of his most ornate and decorative work. Indeed, much of Umanoff’s oeuvre is far more simplistic, like iron-and-pine armchairs for The Elton Co. or low-backed, slatted-seat barstools with slender iron legs for Raymor.
Umanoff was fluent, too, in the more sumptuous modernism of the era: In the mid-1960s, he designed the 2405 and 4449 armchairs for Madison Furniture Industries. Popular in offices, the walnut-framed, leather-upholstered seats, which could have been mistaken for the seductive Scandinavian modern seating of the era, were reportedly the jumping-off point for Captain Kirk’s iconic seat on Star Trek.
Even as he is among the mid-century modern designers you may not know, with work across such a range of styles and manufacturers (most no longer in business), Umanoff, who died in 1985, leaves a legacy that is fascinatingly diverse and at times enticingly elusive, making his work intriguing objects for collectors.
Find vintage Arthur Umanoff furniture today on 1stDibs.
- Late 19th c./Early 20th c. Cobbler's Factory Shoe Rack c.1880-1920Located in San Francisco, CAABOUT An antique cobbler's six tier industrial shoe rack on casters. The smooth rolling casters make them easy to move around and will not mar wooden floors. Designed for daily fact...Category
Antique Late 19th Century American Industrial Coat Racks and Stands
MaterialsWood
$1,195 Sale Price29% Off - Mid-century Walnut Jack Cartwright for Founders Tall Dresser c.1960By Jack Cartwright, Founders Furniture CompanyLocated in San Francisco, CAABOUT A Walnut, six drawer dresser designed by Jack Cartwright for Founders. Ebonized wood inset border detail and black knobs. Four smaller drawers and two larger drawers on the bo...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsWalnut
$2,520 Sale Price30% Off - Mid-century Westnofa Mahogany and Teak Gentleman's Chest, circa 1960By Westnofa FurnitureLocated in San Francisco, CAABOUT An original Teak gentleman's chest by Westnofa. This statement chest has rich wood grain throughout the entire piece and sharply, curved drawer pulls. A rare piece with fourte...Category
Mid-20th Century Norwegian Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsMahogany, Teak, Wood
$3,495 Sale Price30% Off - Mid-20th Century Carved Wooden Santo, circa 1950-1960Located in San Francisco, CAAbout A hand painted carved wooden Mexican or Central American Santo (saint) with articulating arms. Creator unknown. Date of manufacture circa 1...Category
Antique 19th Century Mexican Industrial Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsWood, Paint
- Early 20th c. European Millinery Hat Stretcher c.1900-1920 (FREE SHIPPING)Located in San Francisco, CAABOUT An original wooden hat stretcher dating from the early 20th Century. It is made in two halves, with an adjustable wooden screw to either push apart or pull together the two ha...Category
Early 20th Century Industrial Hat Racks and Stands
MaterialsWood
- Late 19th/Early 20th c. European Millinery Hat Stretcher c.1890-1920 (FREE SHIP)Located in San Francisco, CAABOUT An original wooden hat stretcher with iron screw mechanism dating from the late 19th/early 20th century. It is made in two halves, with an adjustable screw to either push apar...Category
Antique Late 19th Century Industrial Hat Racks and Stands
MaterialsIron
- Arthur Umanoff Walnut Magazine RackBy Arthur UmanoffLocated in Kalamazoo, MIBeautifully crafted Mid-Century Modern magazine or book rack designed by the prolific designer Arthur Umanoff in the 1950s. Featuring distinctive staves and practical handles on eith...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsWalnut
- Arthur Umanoff Walnut Magazine RackBy Arthur UmanoffLocated in Highland, INThis lovely walnut magazine rack by Arthur Umanoff for Washington Woodcraft has sculptural spindles that create visual movement as your perspective on the piece changes. 18.5"H X ...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsWalnut
- American Mid-Century Modern Solid Walnut Magazine Rack by Arthur UmanoffBy Arthur UmanoffLocated in San Diego, CAA solid walnut magazine rack from the late 1950s by Arthur Umanoff. Formed by two intersecting planes, the rack cradles books or periodicals at a slight angle in a wooden frame defin...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsWalnut
$600 Sale Price22% Off - Mid-Century Modern Sculptural Ebonized Walnut Magazine Holder by Arthur UmanoffBy Arthur UmanoffLocated in New York, NYThis refined Mid-Century Modern magazine holder was realized by the esteemed American designer Arthur Umanoff, circa 1960. The piece offers two open rectilinear ends connected by a rectangular base and two atomic concave cross bars at the top- all in ebonized walnut. Connecting the top and bottom horizontal supports are an array of handcarved totem like forms- that appear inspired by Oceanic...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsWalnut
- MCM Arthur Umanoff Walnut Magazine RackBy Arthur UmanoffLocated in Vallejo, CAA mid century walnut magazine rack designed by Arthur Umanoff. Oval with vertical spindles around the sides. Elegant tapered shape. A wonderful mid century minimalist design and func...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsWood
- Mid Century Solid Walnut Spindle Magazine Rack Stand by Arthur UmanoffBy Arthur UmanoffLocated in San Jose, CAVintage magazine holder designed by Arthur Umanoff for Washington Woodcraft, circa 1960s. This organizing rack is constructed of solid walnut a...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsWalnut