Set of Six Tulip Chairs by Eero Saarinen, Knoll International
View Similar Items
Set of Six Tulip Chairs by Eero Saarinen, Knoll International
About the Item
- Creator:Eero Saarinen (Designer)
- Design:Tulip Armless ChairSaarinen Pedestal Series
- Dimensions:Height: 31.89 in (81 cm)Width: 20.08 in (51 cm)Depth: 21.66 in (55 cm)Seat Height: 20.08 in (51 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1970
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Recent upholstery.
- Seller Location:Berlin, DE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU4616218294692
Tulip Armless Chair
With his iconic Pedestal collection, architect and designer Eero Saarinen (1910–61) vowed to “clear up the slum of legs,” as he described the visual clutter resulting from traditional furniture frames in a 1956 TIME magazine cover story. Central to this endeavor is the Pedestal table, whose round top on a slender, graceful pedestal would become a near ubiquitous — and oft-imitated — form. The Tulip armchair and the Tulip armless chair continue this streamlining in Saarinen’s modern, space-age aesthetic.
With its simplified silhouette and fiberglass body, the Tulip armless chair is at once elegant and industrial, a feat that Saarinen continually mastered in mid-century modern works ranging from furniture to architecture (think the St. Louis Arch and the TWA Terminal at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, which has reopened as a hotel). The designer originally tried to cast the entire seat in fiberglass, pushing the envelope of modern furniture production, but, to ensure stability, he eventually settled on a cast-aluminum base and fiberglass seat. In 1957, the chair was put into production through Knoll — Saarinen knew pioneering American designer Florence Knoll from his days at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he taught and took on design projects for the school. It has remained one of the legendary firm’s most popular seats ever since.
Given its sculptural shape, the Tulip armless chair can be paired with a Saarinen table for a wholly modern dining set — as it appears throughout the TWA Hotel — or hold its own as a side or accent chair, a popular touch by top residential designers today. The Velcro-attached seat cushion is available in over a dozen upholstery options, though the thoroughly space-age cherry red is undoubtedly the most famous.
Eero Saarinen
Through his work as an architect and designer, Eero Saarinen was a prime mover in the introduction of modernism into the American mainstream. Particularly affecting were the organic, curvilinear forms seen in Saarinen’s furniture and his best-known structures: the gull-winged TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy airport in New York (opened 1962), Dulles International Airport in Virginia (1962) and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri (1965).
Saarinen had a peerless modernist pedigree. His father, Eliel Saarinen, was an eminent Finnish architect who in 1932 became the first head of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in suburban Detroit. The school became synonymous with progressive design and decorative arts in the United States, and while studying there the younger Saarinen met and befriended several luminaries of mid-century modernism, among them Harry Bertoia and Charles and Ray Eames.
At Cranbrook, Saarinen also met Florence Schust Knoll, who, as director of her husband Hans Knoll's eponymous furniture company, would put Saarinen’s best designs into production. These include the Grasshopper chair, designed in 1946 and so named because its angled bentwood frame resembles the insect; the Tulip chair (1957), a flower-shaped fiberglass shell mounted on a cast-aluminum pedestal; and the lushly contoured Womb lounge chair and ottoman (1948). In his furniture as in his architecture, the keynotes of Eero Saarinen’s designs are simplicity, strength and grace.
Find vintage Eero Saarinen tables, chairs and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- Eero Saarinen Conference Chair, Knoll InternationalBy Eero SaarinenLocated in Berlin, BerlinA conference chairs designed by Eero Saarinen. U.S.A., Knoll International, circa 1970. The conference chair, no. 72 with chrome-plated metal frame and new velvet covered seat and...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Pair of Eero Saarinen Conference Chairs, Knoll InternationalBy Eero SaarinenLocated in Berlin, BerlinA pair of conference chairs designed by Eero Saarinen. U.S.A., Knoll International, circa 1970. The conference chair, no. 72 with chrome plated metal frame and new velvet covered ...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Set of 6 Chairs by Warren Platner, Knoll International, 1970sBy Warren PlatnerLocated in Berlin, BerlinSet of 6 armchairs designed by Warren Platner. U.S.A., Knoll International, 1966. Wonderful vintage set of six chairs in polished nickel with turquoise backs and seat cushions. An...Category
Vintage 1970s American Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsMetal
Sold$18,988 / set - Vintage Barcelona Chair & Footstool by Knoll International, Early 1970sBy Ludwig Mies van der RoheLocated in Berlin, BerlinLounge chair and footstool designed by Mies van der Rohe. U.S.A., Knoll International, Early 1970s. Original super vintage and patinated 'BARCELONA CHAIR' in brown leather. Chrome...Category
Vintage 1970s American Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather
- Pair of Norman Cherner Side ChairsBy Norman ChernerLocated in Berlin, BerlinPair of side chairs designed by Norman Cherner. U.S.A., Cherner, 1958. A pair of recent production side chairs in classic walnut laminate on moulded plywood...Category
Early 2000s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsWalnut
$1,898 / set - PAIR of Diamond Chairs by Harry BERTOIA, KNOLL INTERNATIONALBy Harry BertoiaLocated in Berlin, BerlinA pair of original Diamond Chairs, designed by Harry Bertoia. U.S.A., Knoll International, 1970s Early production Diamond chairs in white and black painted metal with rust-orange ve...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsMetal
- Eero Saarinen for Knoll International Tulip ChairsBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in Dronten, NLClassic Tulip dining chairs designed in 1956 by Eero Saarinen for Knoll International. A defining accomplishment of modern design and a timeless addition to your home—a true Classic....Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Eero Saarinen for Knoll International Set of Six Dining ChairsBy Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Waalwijk, NLEero Saarinen for Knoll International, set of six dining chairs, model '72', chrome-plated steel, fiberglass, fabric, United States, design 1948, produced 1970s Dining chairs mode...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- Set of Four Eero Saarinen for Knoll International Dining ChairsBy Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Waalwijk, NLEero Saarinen for Knoll International, set of four model 72 chairs, in chrome and leather fabric, United States, 1948. Set of four organic shaped chairs designed by Eero Saarinen. ...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsChrome
- 4 Tulip Chairs, Eero Saarinen Knoll InternationalBy Eero SaarinenLocated in Saint ouen, FR4 Tulip chairs - Eero Saarinen Knoll International Black with removable cream cushions Signed under the foot New Rotatable Dimensions : H 80 x 4...Category
2010s Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Knoll Eero Saarinen for Knoll Set of Six Chairs in Grey VelvetBy Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Waalwijk, NLEero Saarinen for Knoll International, set of six dining chairs, model 72, chrome-plated steel, velvet, United States, design 1948, later production Set of six organic shaped chairs...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsChrome, Steel
- Eero Saarinen for Knoll International Set of Four Dining Chairs in PlywoodBy Florence Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Waalwijk, NLEero Saarinen for Knoll International, set of four dining chairs, coated iron, plywood, velvet, United States / Belgium, design 1948, production 1960s Four organic shaped chairs des...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsIron
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
The 21 Most Popular Mid-Century Modern Chairs
You know the designs, now get the stories about how they came to be.
A Short History of the World’s Most Iconic Designs
Of the million-plus items on 1stdibs, some seem to have transcended time, looking as fresh today as when they were first produced. The pieces highlighted on our new Iconic Designs page stand out for longevity, functionality and quality of design and manufacture — just the tonic for the present unsettled moment.