Pair of Harry Bertoia Diamond Chairs
View Similar Items
Pair of Harry Bertoia Diamond Chairs
About the Item
- Creator:Harry Bertoia (Designer),Knoll (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 30.5 in (77.47 cm)Width: 33 in (83.82 cm)Depth: 30 in (76.2 cm)Seat Height: 16 in (40.64 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:mid 20th century
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Minor losses. black rilsan finish has gone to dark gray on surface. when rubbed with fine steel wool and armorall - will go back to black - yet look good the way they are.
- Seller Location:Rochester, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU96112241922
Harry Bertoia
Sculptor, furniture and jewelry designer, graphic artist and metalsmith, Harry Bertoia was one of the great cross-disciplinarians of 20th-century art and design and a central figure in American modernism. Among furniture aficionados he is known for the wire-lattice Diamond chair (and its variants such as the tall-backed Bird chair) designed for Knoll Inc. and first released in 1952. As an artist, Bertoia is revered for a style that was his alone. Bertoia’s metal sculptures are by turns expressive and austere, powerful and subtle, intimate in scale and monumental. All embody a tension between the intricacy and precision of Bertoia’s forms and the raw strength of his materials: steel, brass, bronze and copper.
Fortune seemed to guide Bertoia’s artistic development. Born in northeastern Italy, Bertoia immigrated to the United States at age 15, joining an older brother in Detroit. He studied drawing and metalworking in the gifted student program at Cass Technical High School. Recognition led to awards that culminated, in 1937, in a teaching scholarship to attend the Cranbrook Academy of Art in suburban Bloomfield Hills, one of the great crucibles of modernism in America. There, Bertoia made friendships — with architect Eero Saarinen, designers Charles and Ray Eames and Florence Schust Knoll and others — that shaped the course of his life. He taught metalworking at Cranbrook, and when materials rationing during World War II limited the availability of metals, Bertoia focused on jewelry design. He also experimented with monotype printmaking, and 19 of his earliest efforts were bought by the Guggenheim Museum.
In 1943, he left Cranbrook to work in California with the Eameses, helping them develop their now-famed plywood furniture. (Bertoia received scant credit.) Late in that decade, Florence and Hans Knoll persuaded him to move east and join Knoll Inc. His chairs became, and remain, perennial bestsellers. Royalties allowed Bertoia to devote himself full-time to metal sculpture, a medium he began to explore in earnest in 1947.
By the early 1950s Bertoia was receiving commissions for large-scale works from architects — the first came via Saarinen — as he refined his aesthetic vocabulary into two distinct skeins. One comprises his “sounding sculptures” — gongs and “Sonambient” groupings of rods that strike together and chime when touched by hand or by the wind. The other genre encompasses Bertoia’s naturalistic works: abstract sculptures that suggest bushes, flower petals, leaves, dandelions or sprays of grass. As you will see on these pages, Harry Bertoia was truly unique; his art and designs manifest a wholly singular combination of delicacy and strength.
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.
- Original Westport Chair, Harry Bunnell 1905By Thomas Lee, Harry BunnellLocated in Rochester, NYOriginal antique Adirondack " Westport Chair " designed by Thomas Lee in 1903 for his summer home in Westport, NY and produced by his friend and local c...Category
Antique Early 1900s American Adirondack Lounge Chairs
MaterialsWood
- Pair Large Rattan Lounge Chairs, 1970-1980Located in Rochester, NYA pair of large scale rattan lounge chairs in original glowing surface color. High quality construction. Great looking from every angle. Circa 1970 - 1980. Look at all pictures and r...Category
20th Century Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Rattan, Reed, Foam
$1,800 / set - Asian Modern Lounge Chairs Style of Michael TaylorBy Michael Taylor, Baker Far East CollectionLocated in Rochester, NYPair of Asian Modern walnut lounge chairs with original ultra-suede type upholstered seat and back cushions. In the style of Michael Taylor - Far East Collection for Baker Furniture....Category
Mid-20th Century American Ming Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUltrasuede, Walnut, Latex
$1,200 / set - Black Lacquered and Brass Horseshoe Back Lounge Chairs Style of James MontBy Century Furniture, James MontLocated in Rochester, NYPair of Asian modern black lacquered horseshoe back lounge chairs with brass fittings in the style of James Mont in all original beautiful glowing condition. Century Furniture Compan...Category
20th Century American Ming Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBrass
- Iron Strap Lounge Chair by Russell WoodardBy Russell WoodardLocated in Rochester, NYA wrought iron strap lounge chair with great sculptural form in beautifully aged original finish. A hard to find modernist design by Russell Woodar...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
MaterialsWrought Iron
- Wicker Rattan Emmanuelle Peacock ChairLocated in Rochester, NYFinely woven wicker rattan large fan back peacock chair "Emmanuelle Peacock Chair" in beautifully aged original rich surface color patina. Cir...Category
Mid-20th Century Bohemian Lounge Chairs
MaterialsRattan, Wood, Wicker
- Pair of Large Diamond Chairs by Harry Bertoia for KnollBy Knoll, Harry BertoiaLocated in Dallas, TXFabulous, iconic pair of large "Diamond Chairs" by Harry Bertoia for Knoll. Black metal frames and yellow upholstery.Category
Vintage 1960s Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Harry Bertoia for Knoll Large Diamond ChairBy Harry Bertoia, KnollLocated in Philadelphia, PAHarry Bertoia for Knoll large diamond chair with a green cover. Base is original white. Bushings are in good shape, and overall the cover is pretty clean! ...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsMetal
$1,480 Sale Price32% Off - Harry Bertoia for Knoll Large Chrome Diamond ChairBy Harry Bertoia, KnollLocated in Ferndale, MIHarry Bertoias concept of woven welded steel wire was to present a chair appearing lighter than air. This is the large diamond chair from his wire ser...Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- Harry Bertoia for Knoll ”BIRD” ChairBy Harry Bertoia, KnollLocated in Philadelphia, PAHarry Bertoia Bird Frame or High Back Diamond. Black metal frame with 4 rubber bushings that let that chair rock slightly. Newer Knoll cover in the last 10-15 years. Cover is very...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Harry Bertoia "Diamond" Lounge Chair for Knoll, USA, 1980sBy Knoll, Harry BertoiaLocated in Hellouw, NLA diamond lounge chair by Harry Bertoia for Knoll with Kvadrat Fabric from the USA. This chair is probably produced in the 1980s and has a black frame with a fully covered seating ar...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Mid-Century Modern “Diamond” Chairs Designed by Harry Bertoia for Knoll, a PairBy Knoll, Harry BertoiaLocated in Union City, NJMid-Century Modern “Diamond” Chairs Designed By Harry Bertoia For Knoll, circa 1960s. This early pair of Diamond chairs feature original fully upholstered black leather covers. Both ...Category
Vintage 1960s Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsMetal