Exceptional Gilt Art Deco Settee by Paul Follot

Chic large French 1950s sofa by Maison Leleu, Paris.

Chic large French 1950s sofa by Maison Leleu, Paris.

Pristine Florence Knoll Sofa for Knoll International. Upholstered in gorgeous Sina Pearson fabric. Florence Knoll was a pioneering designer and entrepreneur who created the modern look and feel of America’s postwar corporate office with sleek furniture, artistic textiles and an uncluttered, free-flowing workplace environment. To connoisseurs of Modernism, the mid-20th-century designs of Florence Knoll, were — and still are — the essence of the genre’s clean, functional forms. Transcending design fads, they are still influential, still contemporary, still common in offices, homes and public spaces, still found in dealers’ showrooms and represented in museum collections. Ms. Knoll learned her art at the side of Modernist masters. She was a protégé of the German-American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Eliel Saarinen, the Finnish architect and teacher and the father of the architect Eero Saarinen. And she worked with the renowned Bauhaus architects Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. Throughout her career, influenced by the German Bauhaus school of design, she promoted the Modernist merger of architecture, art and utility in her furnishings and interiors, especially — although not exclusively — for offices. In the 1940s, she married and became a business partner of the German-born furniture maker Hans Knoll, and over 20 years she was instrumental in building Knoll Associates into the largest and most prestigious high-end design firm of its kind, with 35 showrooms in the United States and around the world. While her husband handled business affairs, Ms. Knoll was the design force of Knoll Associates. It grew to become the leading innovator of modern interiors and furnishings in the 1950s and ’60s, transforming the CBS, Seagram and Look magazine headquarters in Manhattan, the H. J. Heinz headquarters in Pittsburgh and properties across the United States, Europe, Asia and South America, including American embassies. Her “total design” favored open work spaces over private offices, and furniture grouped for informal discussions. It integrated lighting, vibrant colors, acoustical fabrics, chairs molded like tulip petals, sofas and desks with chrome legs...

Pristine Florence Knoll Sofa for Knoll International. Upholstered in gorgeous Sina Pearson fabric. Florence Knoll was a pioneering designer and entrepreneur who created the modern...

A North Italian green-painted and parcel-gilt settee from the mid-18th century. The serpentine padded backrest displays foliate scrolls on the top rail flanked by two scrolls above a...

A French Louis XVI period painted and parcel-gilt canapé settee from the late 18th century, with rectangular back, out-scrolled arms, fluted legs and deep cantaloupe colored upholste...

Antique French Directoire style Settee ~ Canape is ideal for a light and airy look, with a minimal footprint for more cozy seating arran...

Antique French Louis XVI Painted canape ~ settee will make a classic addition to any decor! The oval seat back and generous seat are framed in incredibly detailed carved fruitwood, s...