Set of 4 German Art Deco Brown Leather Arm Chairs
About the Item
- Creator:Walter Knoll (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 31.5 in (80.01 cm)Width: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)Depth: 20 in (50.8 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 4
- Style:Art Deco (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Circa 1930s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:
Walter Knoll
Inspired by the Bauhaus — founded in 1919 by Walter Gropius — Walter 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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Long Island City, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 2 days of delivery.
- Breuer for Thonet German Art Deco Lacquered Arm ChairBy Marcel Breuer, ThonetLocated in New York, NYGerman Art Deco black enameled wood arm chair with chrome trim having a shaped wood back and cane seat (attributed to MARCEL BREUER; manufactured by THONET) (Related item: 061133)Category
20th Century German Art Deco Armchairs
MaterialsChrome
- Set of 8 English Art Deco Leather Dining ChairsLocated in New York, NYSet of 8 English Art Deco maple high back dining chairs with beige leather upholstery (2 arms:22¬Ω"w x 26"d x 42"h/6 side) (S. Hille & Co., c.1948)Category
Vintage 1940s English Art Deco Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsMaple
- Set of 4 French Art Deco Cream and Mahogany Arm ChairsBy Jean PascaudLocated in New York, NYSet of 4 French Art Deco style (1950s) mahogany stained open arm chairs with a shaped back and cream upholstered seat and back. (manner of Jean Pascard)Category
Vintage 1950s French Armchairs
MaterialsWood, Upholstery
- Set of 4 Art Moderne Aluminum Arm ChairsBy Marcel BreuerLocated in New York, NYSet of 4 Mid-Century (Bauhaus) aluminum framed arm chairs with slat wood seat & back (att: Marcel Breuer) (mfr. by Meubles Stylcair, Lyon) (ref: M. Droste-MARCEL BREUER Design)Category
Early 20th Century German Armchairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Set of 4 French Provincial Leather Arm ChairsLocated in New York, NYSet of 4 French Provincial (19th Cent) oak open arm chairs with "X" form legs supporting an oval leather seat and shaped back.Category
Antique 19th Century French French Provincial Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Oak
- Jallot French Art Deco Bergére Arm ChairBy Léon JallotLocated in New York, NYFrench Art Deco fruitwood bergere arm chair carved with leaf & rosette motifs and upholstered in beige silk. (Attributed to LEON JALLOT)Category
Early 20th Century French Art Deco Bergere Chairs
MaterialsSilk, Fruitwood
- Art Deco Arm Chair attributed to Francis Jourdain 1940s brown leatherBy Francis JourdainLocated in Berlin, DEArt Deco Armchair attributed to Francis Jourdain, France - 1940s in original fair condition. With beech frame and seat in brown faux leather. We offer reupholstery upon request. Plea...Category
Vintage 1940s French Art Deco Armchairs
MaterialsFaux Leather, Beech
- Walter Knoll Pair of two Arm chairs in Bentwood and Cognac Leather, Germany 1970By Walter KnollLocated in Almelo, NLWalter Knoll Pair of two Arm chairs in Bentwood and Cognac Leather, Germany 1970s This set of two modern armchairs or side chairs was manufactu...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsLeather, Bentwood
- Art Deco Design Lounge Arm Chair set, Belgium 1940'sLocated in Oud-Turnhout, VANVintage Art Deco Design Lounge Arm Chair set, made in Belgium 1940's. Beautiful shaped chairs with OP Art velvet fabric, which is probably not original and reupholstered somewhere in...Category
Vintage 1940s Belgian Art Deco Armchairs
MaterialsFabric, Velvet, Oak
- Walter Knoll Brown Leather Armchairs, Set of TwoBy Walter KnollLocated in London, GBSleek and simple, this pair of Walter Knoll armchairs have a Classic silhouette. Featuring slim chrome frames and soft brown leather upholstery, the chairs balance a sharp aesthet...Category
2010s German Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather
- One Pair Of Art Deco Bent Wood Arm Chairs.Located in Buchanan, MIONE PAIR OF ART DECO BENT WOOD ARM CHAIRS.Category
French Art Deco Armchairs
MaterialsWood, Upholstery
- French Art Deco Style Brown Leather Club ChairLocated in Westwood, NJAn Art Deco style leather upholstered club chair, in our Vintage Cuba brown leather, with long rolled arms, a padded seat back, and cushions, with detailed nailhead trim and raised o...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Asian Art Deco Club Chairs
MaterialsLeather