Harry Bertoia for Knoll Child's Side Chair
View Similar Items
Harry Bertoia for Knoll Child's Side Chair
About the Item
- Creator:Knoll (Manufacturer),Harry Bertoia (Designer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 20 in (50.8 cm)Width: 13 in (33.02 cm)Depth: 13 in (33.02 cm)Seat Height: 12 in (30.48 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Shows age, loss to paint.
- Seller Location:St. Louis, MO
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU820218404862
Bertoia Side Chair
When Hans and Florence Knoll invited Italian-American artist Harry Bertoia (1915–78) to move from California to Pennsylvania in 1950 to work with their new design firm, they did not ask him to develop any specific pieces but instead to investigate whatever interested him. That open-ended experimentation led to the 1952 Bertoia Side chair, which was fitted with a fluid metal lattice that gave the seating an ethereal quality. Bertoia considered his collection of chairs created for Knoll Associates to be “mainly made of air, like sculpture,” as he bent steel wire into striking lightweight forms.
While these chairs were innovative in their use of industrial materials, they also had a progressive approach to the ergonomics of seating. Bertoia had previously collaborated with Charles and Ray Eames on molded plywood chairs — what would become the LCW (Lounge Chair Wood) — yet was miffed by the lack of credit for his work. He went on to take a job in engineering for the human body at the Point Loma Naval Electrical Lab in La Jolla, California, during which he created metal sculptures in his spare time. The opportunity from Knoll, another of his former classmates at the famed Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan — Bertoia met the Eameses and Knoll and later taught metalworking there — gave him the time and space to devote himself to his own ideas independently. And, as with all Knoll designers, he would get named recognition for his designs.
In a garage in Bally, Pennsylvania, he set up his metal shop and developed ideas for the welded steel grids he would use in his seating. At the time, most chairs were constructed from wood; Bertoia saw the potential for graceful and comfortable designs in the strong material of metal. Along with the Bertoia Side chair, he created the Diamond chair with a diamond pattern in its metalwork and the undulating Asymmetric Chaise (which was too complicated to manufacture until 2005), all with the transparent volume that gives his metal furniture a sense of floating.
Although he would shift to making art rather than furniture, Bertoia still worked on a number of sculptural and architectural designs for the Knoll Planning Unit in the years that followed. Knoll, Inc. has produced the Bertoia Side chair since it was introduced, with its durable materials and optional upholstery or seat covers that can be snapped on and off, making it popular for indoor and outdoor seating.
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 mid-century modernism. Among furniture aficionados, Bertoia is known for his chairs such as 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, he 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.
At Cranbrook, 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 the school, 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.
Find vintage Harry Bertoia sculptures, armchairs, benches and other furniture and art on 1stDibs.
- Harry Bertoia for Knoll Wide White Diamond Chair & Ottoman with Pink UpholsteryBy Harry Bertoia, KnollLocated in St. Louis, MOMid-Century Modern Harry Bertoia for Knoll wide version diamond chair with ottoman, frames are original white paint an original but faded pink Knoll textile covers. Minor scuffs to f...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Early Version of Eero Saarinen Side or Desk Chair for KnollBy Eero SaarinenLocated in St. Louis, MOEarly version of Eero Saarinen side chair for Knoll with early label. This version has aluminum legs and early base configuration, unlike the later segmented legs. Chair should be re...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Pair of Paul Frankl for Johnson Corset Side Dining ChairsBy Paul FranklLocated in St. Louis, MOPair of Paul Frankl for Johnson Furniture Co. Corset side or dining chairs also know as plunging neckline or "V" back chairs. Chairs are in need of re-upholstery, price includes refi...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
- Harry Bertoia Gold Plated Bronze Diagonal Double Tonal Sonambient SculptureBy Harry BertoiaLocated in St. Louis, MOSculptor and Artist Harry Bertoia gold plated bronze Sonambient sculpture, diagonal double tonal, circa 1965. Two groupings of thin rods at different angles on poured slab of bronze. Purchased from estate of the original owner. Sold with a “Certificate of Authenticity” from the Harry Bertoia foundation, along with a copy of the Knoll letter...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Mobiles and Kinetic Sculptures
MaterialsBronze
- Pair of Harvey Probber Arch Back Side ChairsBy Harvey ProbberLocated in St. Louis, MOPair of high arch back side chairs in dark mahogany with beige upholstery.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Mahogany
- T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings for Saridis Klismos Chairs in Walnut with Leather ThongsBy T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, SaridisLocated in St. Louis, MOSingle T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings Klismos chair for Saridis of Athens, Greece in Greek walnut and leather woven seats. This chair was part of the collection he designed for Saridis of Athens in 1961, inspired by the drawings he saw on ancient Greek vases. The Klismos chairs features a graceful curving back and sable curved legs. The woven seat is made of leather straps / thongs which are tight around the walnut frame. The design beholds Robsjohn-Gibbings’ philosophy of furniture design that is independent of time. Manufacturer's metal label DESIGNED BY T.H.ROBSJOHN-GIBBINGS / Manufactured by saridis of athens. Serial # 9544 &. Please note that the item has been lightly restored by restoration atelier. Some signs of age and use are still visible. This chair model is notably documented on the cover of "Furniture of Classical Greece," written by Robsjohn-Gibbings and Carlton W. Pullin in 1963. We love what Pilar Viladas said about this iconic design in the New York Times in 2010: "T. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings’s Klismos chair looks ancient and modern at the same time — because it is. Based on ancient Greek models, which had been widely copied in the 18th and 19th century, Robsjohn-Gibbings’s version made the klismos shape famous again in the 20th century. Obsessed with its elegant lines, he designed versions of the chair throughout his career, but the most recent examples have been made by Saridis in Athens since the early 1960s, when the designer met the company’s owners and settled in the Greek capital. Its simple but opulent curves hint at sleek penthouses with butlers who serve cocktails on the terrace at sunset. (Indeed, Robsjohn-Gibbings’s Saridis...Category
Vintage 1960s Greek Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Walnut
- Child Chair by Harry Bertoia for KnollBy Knoll, Harry BertoiaLocated in Oklahoma City, OKWonderful set of child sized side chairs designed by Harry Bertoia for Knoll. Set was painted light blue at one point and have a wonderful patina. Pictured with Herman Miller fiberglass armchair...Category
Vintage 1960s North American Mid-Century Modern Children's Furniture
MaterialsMetal
$800 / set - Bertoia Childs Chair for KnollBy Harry Bertoia, KnollLocated in New York, NYClassic midcentury child's chair designed by Harry Bertoia for Knoll. This example is circa 1960s, it is in good condition, showing only expected cosmetic wear, normal and consistent...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Set of Four Harry Bertoia Designed Child Chairs for KnollBy Knoll, Harry BertoiaLocated in San Francisco, CAOffered here are four Harry Bertoia designed child chair for Knoll. First designed in 1950. All are white.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsMetal
$700 Sale Price / set50% Off - Harry Bertoia Diamond Chair for KnollBy Harry BertoiaLocated in New York, NYMid-Century Modern Harry Bertoia (American, 1915 - 1978) Diamond Chair for Knoll (designed 1952) in white with black base and one seat cushion (black). 30" H x 34" W x 25" D; seat he...Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Bertoia Chair, Model 420, Harry Bertoia for KnollBy Knoll, Harry BertoiaLocated in Neuss, NWBertoia chair, model 420, designed in the 1940s by Harry Bertoia for Knoll. Frame made of wire mesh with a new seat cover in grey. Quality Features: ver...Category
Vintage 1940s American Chairs
MaterialsWire
- BERTOIA Chairs, Model 420, Harry Bertoia for KnollBy Knoll, Harry BertoiaLocated in Neuss, NWBERTOIA chair, model 420, designed in the 1940s by Harry Bertoia for Knoll. Frame made of wire mesh with a new felt cover in grey. The offer includes 4 chair...Category
Vintage 1940s American Bauhaus Chairs
MaterialsMetal