Pair of James Mont Style Lacquered Horseshoe Chairs by Century
About the Item
- Creator:Century Furniture (Maker),James Mont (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 29.5 in (74.93 cm)Width: 31 in (78.74 cm)Depth: 27 in (68.58 cm)Seat Height: 16 in (40.64 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Mid-20th Century
- Condition:Reupholstered. Wear consistent with age and use. Good, strong joinery and craftsmanship with age appropriate wear.
- Seller Location:Rio Vista, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1555227952212
James Mont
James Mont’s life as an unmistakably talented furniture designer and interior decorator could fill the pages of a best-selling novel or be reimagined as a Hollywood feature film. From the 1930s through the 1960s, Tinseltown’s glitterati and Manhattan’s Mafia underworld coveted his sofas, coffee tables and table lamps.
Mont was born Demetrios Pecintoglu in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1904 to a family of artists. He reportedly studied architecture and art in Spain and France, and during the 1920s, Mont immigrated with his family to the United States.
Mont and his family settled in New York, where he found work in a Brooklyn electrical supply shop. There he sold hardware and designed his own lighting fixtures. The latter caught the eye of a gangster named Frankie Yale, who commissioned him to refurnish his house. Mont’s opulent designs drew on Art Deco, Hollywood Regency and were occasionally marked by chinoiserie, then a very popular trend in decorating. He created the kind of low-profile side tables and sofas that are frequently associated with mid-century modernism, and he is credited today with helping popularize the integration of Asian influences in modern American design.
Mont soon attracted New York City’s most infamous crime bosses, including Charles “Lucky” Luciano and Frank Costello. For a range of mobsters, he created fashionable, functional and sophisticated pieces such as collapsible home bars that would fold down and out of view — a particularly convenient feature during Prohibition — and tables and desks with secret drawers, which were also handy to Mont’s shady clientele.
“You bought a bar from him, and he would also deliver booze in a baby carriage,” antiques dealer and furniture retailer Todd Merrill told New York about Mont in 2008.
Mont designed a room for the World’s Fair in 1939 and later befriended Hollywood celebrities such as Bob Hope, who was best man at his wedding, Irving Berlin and Lana Turner. During the 1940s and ‘50s, Mont continued designing furniture, mastering finishing techniques such as lacquering and incorporating a distinctive “leafing” print effect with silver and gold into his pieces.
Mont’s designs enjoyed a resurgence in the 1990s, and his pieces continue to be sought after by collectors.
On 1stDibs, discover a range of vintage James Mont sideboards, tables and storage cabinets.
Century Furniture
Known for its durable vintage display cabinets, nightstands and dressers made of cherry, oak, walnut and more, Century Furniture of Hickory, North Carolina, began as an upholstered goods company in 1947 but added case goods and sophisticated mahogany dining-room furnishings shortly thereafter.
Launched by Harley Ferguson Shuford Sr., a Hickory native who was born to a family of textile mill owners, Century Furniture was intended to be “the best furniture company in the world.” With respect to speed and efficiency, the brand found its footing midway through production on a government contract that Shuford had secured in the early days to manufacture thousands of five-drawer chests. The effort was significant, but it was also a teachable moment as far as Shuford and his team’s learning the ropes of running a factory.
After hiring designer Raymond K. Sobota in 1950 and introducing the enormously popular Citation Collection in 1954, Century established its reputation as a leader in stylishly designed high-quality furniture. Sobota had furniture in his blood — after graduating from Kendall College of Art & Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan, he worked for his uncle Karl Schmidt, who was at the time a well-known furniture designer for Berkey and Gay and other makers in the Grand Rapids area, then known as America’s furniture capital. Sobota soon launched his own studio, designing furniture as a freelancer for various local manufacturers. Shuford found him by happenstance, journeying to Michigan’s second-largest city to offer a job to another designer who turned him down but recommended Sobota instead.
Century’s Citation line — a sizable collection for the brand that spanned furnishings for the bedroom, dining room and more — is revered in the world of vintage mid-century modern furniture collectors. The pieces sold very well during the 1950s, and the line is an oft-cited success story for Sobota, who would go on to win awards for his work and whose own catalogue of designs for the brand is massive.
In his 40-year career at Century, until he retired in 1995, he designed well over 100 furniture lines. Sobota’s nightstands, cabinets, side tables and more are characterized by his interest in Asian design, distinctly and brilliantly expressed in his Hollywood Regency–style Chin Hua line, which debuted during the 1970s. With its geometrically decorative brass drawer pulls and door handles as well as dining-chair seat-back carvings — all inspired by Asian motifs — this collection has rendered vintage pieces that saw Century’s craftsmen working with alluring ebonized walnut and more, some of the company’s most sought-after work today.
Also in the 1970s as well as in the 1980s, Manhattan interior designer Jay Spectre introduced an Art Deco–informed spirit at Century Furniture, creating oversize, inviting lounge chairs and bentwood benches that featured plush tufted leather cushions. Spectre’s Eclipse collection was at one point among the largest-selling lines for the brand.
Century licensed collections with celebrity interior designers such as Thomas O’Brien, Charlotte Moss and Bunny Williams among others. In 2013, when Alex Shuford III was named president of Century Furniture, the move marked the succession of the third generation to lead this company, which is today one of the world’s largest privately held manufacturers of high-end furniture.
Find Century Furniture lounge chairs and dining chairs as well as vintage mid-century modern credenzas, dressers and more on 1stDibs.
Erin Lane Estate is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and its team of furniture restorers, art curators, professional appraisers and Asia specialists sources prime vintage and antique furniture from the finest estates in Northern and Southern California. Erin Lane Estate specializes in Hollywood Regency, McGuire, Chinese and Japanese pieces.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Rio Vista, CA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- Pair of Mid-Century Mahogany Cube Chairs by HenredonBy HenredonLocated in Rio Vista, CAStylish pair of Mid-Century Modern cube chairs made by Henredon. Crafted from mahogany featuring an open lattice design back and arms. The generous s...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsFabric, Mahogany
- Set of Eight James Mont Lacquered Dining ChairsBy James MontLocated in Rio Vista, CAMagnificent set of eight black lacquered Mid-Century Modern dining chairs designed by James Mont. The chairs feature an Asian foliate motif decorated back splat with a dramatic high gloss lacquer finish. The frames are made of thick round hardwood with a gracefully curved back. The crestrail is reminiscent of a Chinese official hat chair...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsVelvet, Hardwood
- Pair of Louis XVI Style Walnut Caned Needlepoint Lounge ChairsLocated in Rio Vista, CADivine pair of French caned lounge chairs or armchairs featuring the original art nouveau style needlepoint. Beautifully crafted from walnut i...Category
20th Century French Louis XVI Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Cane, Walnut
- Pair of Michael Taylor Style Woven Rattan Wicker Lounge ChairsLocated in Rio Vista, CAGrand pair of oversized woven rattan wicker cube shaped lounge chairs or club chairs made in the fabulous organic modern manner and style of Michael Taylor...Category
Late 20th Century Organic Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Wicker, Rattan
- Pair of Qing Dynasty Lacquered Horseshoe ArmchairsLocated in Rio Vista, CAStriking pair of black lacquered horseshoe armchairs from the late Qing dynasty period Shandong province China. Decorative carvings on backsplat and apron with a beautiful worn lacqu...Category
20th Century Chinese Qing Armchairs
MaterialsWood, Lacquer
- Set of Four Dunbar Style Leather Barrel Back Lounge ChairsLocated in Rio Vista, CAHandsome set of four Mid-Century Modern mahogany barrel-back lounge chairs or armchairs made in the manner and style of Edward Wormley for Dunbar produced by Vaughan Benz...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBrass
- James Mont Style Horseshoe Lounge Chairs, PairBy James MontLocated in Van Nuys, CAStunning pair of James Mont style Asian horseshoe armchairs. Both possess a dark stain wood frame with hand carved reliefs and decorations. The ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsWool, Wood
- Pair of Vintage Cream Lacquered James Mont Style Ming Horseshoe Lounge ChairsBy James MontLocated in Philadelphia, PAQuality pair of vintage decorator cream lacquered Asian inspired lounge chairs. The pair features solid wood frames, cream lacquered finish, horseshoe barrel backs, burgundy and gold...Category
Vintage 1970s American Ming Lounge Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Wood
- Pair of James Mont Style Mid-Century Lacquered Horseshoe Chairs by CenturyBy James MontLocated in Chicago, ILA lovely pair of large Chinese ming style horseshoe lounge chairs made by Century Furniture. Originally designed by James Mont these chairs epitomize his over the top dramatic mid-ce...Category
Late 20th Century American Chinoiserie Lounge Chairs
MaterialsTextile, Wood
- Black Lacquered and Brass Horseshoe Back Lounge Chairs Style of James MontBy James Mont, Century FurnitureLocated 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
- Pair of Horseshoe Back Chinese Style Low Chairs in the Manner of James MontBy James MontLocated in Lambertville, NJA Chic pair of mid 20th century ebonized Chinese horseshoe back low chairs. The black wood frames with newly upholstered white duck cloth fabric seat cushions.Category
Vintage 1950s American Hollywood Regency Armchairs
MaterialsHardwood
- James Mont Hollywood Regency Style Chinoiserie Lounge Chairs, 1970'sBy Century Furniture, James MontLocated in Lambertville, NJJames Mont Style horseshoe Chinoiserie accent lounge chairs. These Hollywood Regency style chairs feature beautiful honey wood curved fra...Category
Vintage 1970s Hollywood Regency Armchairs
MaterialsBrass