Pair of Marcel Breuer Wassily Chairs by Knoll All Original Black Leather
View Similar Items
Pair of Marcel Breuer Wassily Chairs by Knoll All Original Black Leather
About the Item
- Creator:Knoll (Manufacturer),Marcel Breuer (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 28.5 in (72.39 cm)Width: 31 in (78.74 cm)Depth: 25.5 in (64.77 cm)Seat Height: 16.5 in (41.91 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:Very good condition. Few signs of attractive wear. One small repair to a seam. Great patina.
- Seller Location:Kansas City, MO
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU105709283853
Marcel Breuer
The architect and designer Marcel Breuer was one the 20th century’s most influential and innovative adherents of modernism. A member of the Bauhaus faculty, Breuer — like such colleagues as the architects Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and the artists and art theoreticians László Moholy-Nagy and Josef Albers — left Europe in the 1930s to champion the new design philosophy and its practice in the United States.
Born in Hungary, Breuer became a Bauhaus student in 1920 and quickly impressed Gropius, the German school’s founder, with his aptitude for furniture design. His early work was influenced by the minimalist Dutch design movement De Stijl — in particular the work of architect Gerrit Rietveld.
In 1925, while he was head of the Bauhaus furniture workshop, Breuer realized his signature innovation: the use of lightweight tubular-steel frames for chairs, tables and sofas — a technique soon adopted by Mies and others. Breuer’s attention gradually shifted from design to architecture, and, at the urging of Gropius, he joined his mentor in 1937 on the faculty of Harvard and in an architectural practice.
In the 1940s, Breuer opened his own architectural office, and there his style evolved from geometric, glass-walled structures toward a kind of hybrid architecture — seen in numerous Breuer houses in New England — that pairs bases of local fieldstone with sleek, wood-framed modernist upper floors. In his later, larger commissions, Breuer worked chiefly with reinforced concrete and stone, as seen in his best-known design, the brutalist inverted ziggurat built in New York in 1966 as the home of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Breuer’s most famous furniture pieces are those made of tubular steel, which include the Wassily chair — named after Wassily Kandinsky and recognizable for its leather-strap seating supports — and the caned Cesca chair.
Breuer also made several notable designs in molded plywood, including a chaise and nesting table for the British firm Isokon and a student furniture suite commissioned in 1938 for a dormitory at Bryn Mawr College. Whether in metal or wood, Breuer’s design objects are elegant and adaptable examples of classic modernist design — useful and appropriate in any environment.
Find vintage Marcel Breuer seating, storage cabinets and lighting on 1stDibs.
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.
- Pair of Knoll Black Leather & Stainless Steel Barcelona Chairs, SignedBy Knoll, Ludwig Mies van der RoheLocated in Kansas City, MOPair / Two black leather and stainless steel Barcelona Chairs designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and produced by Knoll. Each example is signed with the Knoll Studio markings. Very few signs of use...Category
Early 2000s American Bauhaus Lounge Chairs
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Frank Gehry Power Play Chair and Ottoman for Knoll, Signed, Great ConditionBy Knoll, Frank GehryLocated in Kansas City, MOPower play chair and ottoman designed by Frank Gehry for Knoll in very close to new condition. There are no chips, cracks or repairs to the wood slats...Category
1990s American Post-Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsMaple
- Pair Barcelona Chairs, Black Leather and Stainless Steel, Mies for Knoll, SignedBy Knoll, Ludwig Mies van der RoheLocated in Kansas City, MOAll original timeless classic pair of black leather and hand polished stainless steel Barcelona chairs. Designed by Mies van de Rohe in 1929, this pair was produced in the 1970s. Ver...Category
Vintage 1970s American Bauhaus Lounge Chairs
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Knoll Barcelona Chairs by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Leather, Stainless SteelBy Knoll, Ludwig Mies van der RoheLocated in Kansas City, MOFour available. Price is for each. Beautiful set of Barcelona Chairs designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and produced by Knoll. Each example i...Category
Early 2000s American Bauhaus Lounge Chairs
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Pair Buttercup Lounge Chairs by Estelle & Erwine Laverne, Professionally PolisedBy Laverne International, Erwine & Estelle LaverneLocated in Kansas City, MORare pair of Laverne acrylic or Lucite lounge chairs with white cushions. These have been professionally polished. Only very light scratches may remain. See the photos as one chair h...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
- Black Chippendale Chair by Robert Venturi for Knoll, 1980s. Attached Cushion.By Knoll, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott BrownLocated in Kansas City, MOChippendale Chair designed by Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown for Knoll, 1984. This example retains the original black finish and leather cushion. The cushion shows fading a...Category
Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Chairs
MaterialsBirch, Laminate
- Knoll International Wassily Chair by Marcel Breuer Black LeatherBy Knoll, Marcel BreuerLocated in Munich, BavariaThis Wassily chair, in chromed tubular steel and black leather, was designed by Marcel Breuer and produced by Knoll International. Knoll International production with the Marcel Breu...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Bauhaus Lounge Chairs
MaterialsStainless Steel, Chrome
- Knoll International Wassily Chair by Marcel Breuer Black LeatherBy Knoll, Marcel BreuerLocated in Munich, BavariaThis Wassily chair, in chromed tubular steel and black leather, was designed by Marcel Breuer and produced by Knoll International. Knoll International production with the Marcel Breu...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Bauhaus Lounge Chairs
MaterialsChrome, Stainless Steel
- Pair of Early Wassily Chairs by Marcel Breuer for Knoll, Leather and ChromeBy Marcel Breuer, KnollLocated in Buffalo, NYMarcel Breuer's 1925 design is a widely recognized masterpiece of modern furniture, having long ago achieved iconic status. This pair of Wassily chairs date to the 1960s. The chrome...Category
Vintage 1960s American Bauhaus Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Pair of Marcel Breuer Wassily Lounge Chairs signed Knoll StudioBy Knoll, Marcel BreuerLocated in Vilnius, LTPair of Wassily lounge chairs designed by Marcel Breuer, circa 1925. Manufacture date 2003 by Knoll Studio. Stamped Knoll Studio on the frame and labeled. In black leather, chromed s...Category
Early 2000s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsChrome
- Marcel Breuer Knoll “Wassily” Brown Leather and Chrome ChairBy Marcel Breuer, KnollLocated in Indianapolis, INA vintage brown leather and chrome Wassily chair designed by Hungarian architect and furniture designer Marcel Breuer (1902-1981) for Knoll. Composed of a tubular chrome frame with b...Category
Late 20th Century American Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsChrome
- Marcel Breuer Knoll “Wassily” Brown Leather and Chrome ChairBy Marcel Breuer, KnollLocated in Indianapolis, INA vintage brown leather and chrome Wassily chair designed by Hungarian architect and furniture designer Marcel Breuer (1902-1981) for Knoll. Composed of a tubular chrome frame with b...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsChrome