Bench by Harvey Probber in Ketchup / Mustard in Oak, USA 1960s
View Similar Items
Bench by Harvey Probber in Ketchup / Mustard in Oak, USA 1960s
About the Item
- Creator:Harvey Probber (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 17.72 in (45 cm)Width: 47.25 in (120 cm)Depth: 24.02 in (61 cm)Seat Height: 17.72 in (45 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Berlin, DE
- Reference Number:Seller: Cb.ob.Probber.v.2004d1stDibs: LU1591225170442
Harvey Probber
A popular designer who had his heyday from the late 1940s into the 1970s, Harvey Probber is one of the post-war American creative spirits whose work has been recently rediscovered by collectors. His designs are by-and-large simple and elegant, but his signal achievement was to pioneer one of the key innovations of mid-20th century furniture: sectional, or modular, seating.
Even as a teenager, the Brooklyn-born Probber was making sketches of furniture designs — and selling them to Manhattan furniture companies. He began working as a designer for an upholsterer once he finished high school and, apart from a few evening classes he took as an adult at Pratt Institute, he was self-taught about design and furniture making.
After wartime service — and a stint as a lounge singer — Probber founded his own company in the late 1940s. A lifelong familiarity with the needs of New York–apartment dwellers doubtless sparked his most noteworthy creation: a line of seating pieces in basic geometric shapes — wedges, squares, half-circles — that could be arranged and combined as needed. Modular furniture remained the core idea of Probber’s business throughout his career.
As a self-trained designer, Probber was never wed to any particular aesthetic. He preferred the simple lines now associated with mid-century modernism for their inherent practicality, but often used hardware to enliven the look of his pieces, or added elements — such as a ceramic insert in the center of a round dining table — that was visually interesting and could serve as a trivet. He gravitated toward bright fabrics with attractive, touchable textures that might be satin-like or nubbly. Above all, Probber insisted that the sofas, case goods and other products that came out of his Fall River, Massachusetts, factory be built to last.
“The quality of aging gracefully,” Probber once told an interviewer, is “design's fourth dimension.” This quality he realized: Probber furniture is just as useful and alluring now as it was when made — and maybe even more stylish.
Find a collection of vintage Harvey Probber side tables, sectional sofas, chairs and other furniture on 1stDibs.
More From This Seller
View AllVintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
Leather, Wood
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Upholstery
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Benches
Oak, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Benches
Wood, Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Benches
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Coc...
Walnut
You May Also Like
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Benches
Brass
Vintage 1950s Benches
Lacquer
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
Fabric, Mahogany
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Benches
Upholstery, Oak
Mid-20th Century Benches
Brass
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Harvey Probber Was the Godfather of Modern Modular Seating
The forward-thinking designer is finally getting his due.
Original in Berlin’s Lars Triesch Has Turned a Passion for Design into a Booming Business
His two gallery spaces in the German capital bring together thousands of pieces ranging from mid-century classics and Murano glass to covetable reproductions manufactured in-house.