Art Deco Bauhaus Lounge Chairs Designed by Norman Bel Geddes
View Similar Items
Art Deco Bauhaus Lounge Chairs Designed by Norman Bel Geddes
About the Item
- Creator:Emeco (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 34 in (86.36 cm)Width: 24 in (60.96 cm)Depth: 37 in (93.98 cm)Seat Height: 17.5 in (44.45 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Art Deco (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1940
- Condition:Refinished. Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Las Vegas, NV
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1195214728202
Emeco
While they’re best known for their revolutionary Navy chair, iconic American furniture company Emeco makes a whole range of seating and other furniture — not just seaworthy chairs. The development of each product is guided by an eco-friendly ethos and pragmatic approach to design.
Emeco began to take shape during the 1940s, when the U.S. Navy needed a lightweight, fireproof chair that could withstand a torpedo blast and hold up to use by “big, burly sailors,” says Gregg Buchbinder, Emeco’s chief executive.
With experts from the Aluminum Company of America, an engineer named Wilton C. Dinges (1916–74) delivered, and the Emeco 1006 — that is, the Navy chair — an aluminum classic, was born. In order to demonstrate the chair’s sturdiness, Dinges threw it from the eighth floor of a hotel in Chicago, and when it landed, the chair bounced in lieu of breaking or bending.
The engineer secured a contract to manufacture the Navy chair beginning in 1944 at the Electrical Machine and Equipment Company (Emeco), which he’d founded a few years earlier in Hanover, Pennsylvania. In the ensuing decades, the factory’s craftsmen would stamp out by hand hundreds of thousands of Navy chairs for battleships, aircraft carriers and submarines — a process that requires more than 70 steps.
Today, the impossibly durable Navy chair, which is recyclable and made of at least 80 percent recycled aluminum, inspires knockoffs left and right and can be found in a variety of public settings, from upscale restaurants to hotels and offices. But it took time to get here.
In 1979, Gregg’s father, Jay Buchbinder, a businessman whose Long Beach, California, furniture company manufactured seating for fast food restaurants, purchased Emeco. The company hit a rough patch in the 1990s. When Gregg acquired Emeco from Jay in 1998, he took the $2 million in debt that came along with it. Fortuitously, Gregg learned that the Navy chair had taken on a new nonmilitary identity around the same time and that it was increasingly seen as sleek and retro in addition to being great submarine seating. Orders for the Navy chair were coming in from design luminaries like Ettore Sottsass, Giorgio Armani and a daring young French designer named Philippe Starck, who purchased a large number of 1006s for Ian Schrager’s Paramount hotel in New York City.
Gregg seized on Emeco’s newfound popularity, initiating a partnership with Starck, who would design the company’s Hudson Collection, a line planned for Manhattan’s Hudson Hotel that saw the Navy chair take on the form of a barstool and other pieces. He also partnered with Frank Gehry, whose Superlight chair for Emeco can be hoisted off the ground with one hand. Collaborations with Jasper Morrison, Jean Nouvel and others followed, and today, Emeco continues to build durable seating furniture from a range of recycled materials with a variety of designers.
Find authentic Emeco chairs, stools, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- Streamline Art Deco Lounge Chairs Designed by Norman Bel GeddesBy Norman Bel GeddesLocated in Las Vegas, NVPair of Streamline Moderne lounge chairs designed by Norman Bel Geddes Frames are satin nickel painted with period velvet upholstered cushions with moderne design. Both chairs are ...Category
Vintage 1940s Art Deco Lounge Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Norman Bel Geddes Design Streamline Chest of Drawers 1934 SimmonsBy Norman Bel GeddesLocated in Las Vegas, NVIncredible streamline moderne chest of drawers designed by Norman Bel Geddes for Simmons Furniture. Dated 1943 on rear side. Constructed of heavy gage steel. Drawers glide smoothly...Category
Early 20th Century American Bauhaus Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsSteel
- Bauhaus Anton Lorenz Design Dining Chairs 4 Seats in Pink Leopard PrintBy Anton LorenzLocated in Las Vegas, NVIconic set of four armchairs designed by Anton Lorenz in the 1920's. Nickel/chrome plated tubular steel frames upholstered in a soft pink leopard spot upholstery. Very comfortable....Category
Mid-20th Century Bauhaus Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Lounge Chair & Ottoman by Widdicomb 1950'sBy T.H. Robsjohn-GibbingsLocated in Las Vegas, NVElegant modern lounge chair designed by T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Widdicomb, circa 1950s. Mated with a different manufactured but matching ottoman. Both are solid walnut wood frames...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- 1970s Lounge Chairs by Byron Botker for Landes of CaliforniaBy Byron BotkerLocated in Las Vegas, NVPair of fat chrome-plated steel tube sling lounge chairs designed by Byron Botker for Landes of California. Very comfortable and super cool. New premium vinyl sling in 2-tone steel ...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Vintage Scoop Cantilever Lounge Chairs 1970'sBy Milo BaughmanLocated in Las Vegas, NVAmazing 1970s Disco era green velvet cantilever lounge chairs Newly upholstered with new inside webbing and Dacron. Very comfortable scoop design.Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel
$2,900 / set
- Art Deco Ottomans by Norman Bel Geddes for SimmonsBy Norman Bel Geddes, Simmons Company FurnitureLocated in Brooklyn, NYPair of Art Deco ottomans or stools by Norman Bel Geddes for Simmons furniture company are brushed steel with re-upholstered gray vinyl tops.Category
Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Ottomans and Poufs
MaterialsSteel
- Classic Art Deco, Bauhaus Tubular Chrome Lounge ChairBy Kem Weber, lloyd manufacturing co.Located in Buffalo, NYClassic Art Deco, Bauhaus tubular chrome lounge chair. Cantilever chrome frame, recently upholstered in a blue Naugahyde fabric with baby b...Category
Vintage 1940s American Art Deco Lounge Chairs
MaterialsChrome, Metal
- Simmons Norman Bel Geddes Steel Metal Art Deco Brown Waterfall Vanity BenchBy Simmons Company FurnitureLocated in Philadelphia, PASimmons Norman Bel Geddes steel metal Art Deco brown waterfall vanity bench. Item features steel metal construction, brown wood grain finish, original label, clean modernist lines, q...Category
Vintage 1930s North American Art Deco Benches
MaterialsMetal
- 1930's Bauhaus Design Lounge Chair set by Erich DieckmannBy Erich DieckmannLocated in Oud-Turnhout, VANVintage Bauhaus Design Lounge Chair set of 2. Designed by Erich Dieckmann. Made in the 1930's, Germany. Steam bent beech wooden frame with cane rattan woven seat and back. The cane h...Category
Vintage 1930s German Bauhaus Lounge Chairs
MaterialsCane, Beech
- Two Art Deco Bauhaus Model 409 Lounge Chairs by W.H. Gispen for Gispen, 1930sBy Gispen, Willem H. GispenLocated in Amsterdam, NLMagnificent and very hard to find pair of Art Deco Bauhaus Model 409 lounge chairs. Design by Willem H. Gispen for Gispen. Striking Dutch design from the 1930s. Original cantileve...Category
Vintage 1930s Dutch Art Deco Lounge Chairs
MaterialsMetal, Steel, Chrome
- Art Deco Lounge ChairBy Jacques AdnetLocated in Antwerp, BEJaques Adnet beautifully in style of proportioned deep sitter France Art Deco club chair with arched, sprung armrests, simple solid feet and a fantastic original velvet upholstery in...Category
Vintage 1930s French Art Deco Lounge Chairs
MaterialsWood, Velvet, Upholstery