Mid-Century Three-Seat Armless Parallel Sofa by Florence Knoll
View Similar Items
Mid-Century Three-Seat Armless Parallel Sofa by Florence Knoll
About the Item
- Creator:Florence Knoll (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 32 in (81.28 cm)Width: 85 in (215.9 cm)Depth: 31 in (78.74 cm)Seat Height: 16 in (40.64 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Very good overall condition, minimal wear to fabric, foam is good, minor wear to black enamel on steel supports. Fabric has been cleaned.
- Seller Location:Toledo, OH
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU165824839363
Florence Knoll
Architect, furniture designer, interior designer, entrepreneur — Florence Knoll had a subtle but profound influence on the course of mid-century American modernism. Dedicated to functionality and organization, and never flamboyant, Knoll shaped the ethos of the postwar business world with her polished, efficient design and skillfully realized office plans.
Knoll had perhaps the most thorough design education of any of her peers. Florence Schust was orphaned at age 12, and her guardian sent her to Kingswood, a girl’s boarding school that is part of the Cranbrook Educational Community in suburban Detroit. Her interest in design brought her to the attention of Eliel Saarinen, the Finnish architect and head of the Cranbrook Academy of Art. Saarinen and his wife took the talented child under their wing, and she became close to their son, the future architect Eero Saarinen. While a student at the academy, Florence befriended artist-designer Harry Bertoia and Charles and Ray Eames. Later, she studied under three of the Bauhaus masters who emigrated to the United States. She worked as an apprentice in the Boston architectural offices of Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer; Ludwig Mies van der Rohe taught her at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
In 1941, she met Hans Knoll, whose eponymous furniture company was just getting off the ground. They married in 1946, and her design sense and his business skills soon made Knoll Inc. a leading firm in its field. Florence signed up the younger Saarinen as a designer, and would develop pieces by Bertoia, Mies and the artist Isamu Noguchi. Her main work came as head of the Knoll Planning Group, designing custom office interiors for clients such as IBM and CBS. The furniture Florence created for these spaces reflects her Bauhaus training: the pieces are pure functional design, exactingly built; their only ornament from the materials, such as wood and marble. Her innovations — the oval conference table, for example, conceived as a way to ensure clear sightlines among all seated at a meeting — were always in the service of practicality.
Since her retirement in 1965, Knoll received the National Medal of Arts, among other awards; in 2004 the Philadelphia Museum of Art mounted the exhibition “Florence Knoll: Defining Modern” — well deserved accolades for a strong, successful design and business pioneer. As demonstrated on these pages, the simplicity of Knoll’s furniture is her work’s great virtue: they fit into any interior design scheme.
- Early Florence Knoll Walnut "Floating" Frame Sofa, Model 57WBy Florence KnollLocated in Toledo, OHA Classic Mid-Century Knoll model 57W sofa. The floating frame has mortised and pinned construction and is very solid. Original upholstery is in a cream and grey woven fabric with tufted back and seat cushions. Unusual form makes this a highly desirable sofa. Sofa is 90" long. There are some separations at seams on arms and cushion as photo'd and a...Category
Mid-20th Century Sofas
MaterialsFabric
- Edward Wormley Dunbar Gondola SofaBy Edward WormleyLocated in Toledo, OHDunbar Gondola sofa, designed by Edward Wormley, manufactured by Dunbar, very good to excellent condition. This sofa has a very solid walnut frame. The ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsWalnut
- Pair of Weiman Curved Sectional SofasBy WeimanLocated in Toledo, OHPair of modern curved sectional sofas by Weiman, circa 1980s, featuring a geometric Aztek pattern with 4 sectional pieces and 4 pillows, great condition. Dimensions: 11'7" long x 54"...Category
Vintage 1980s American Modern Sofas
MaterialsUpholstery
$9,000 Sale Price25% Off - Preview Cloud Vladimir Kagan Style Organic Shape SofaBy Vladimir KaganLocated in Toledo, OHOrganic cloud shape sofa circa 1990's by Preview Furniture. Very nice upholstery with small pattern.Category
20th Century North American Modern Sofas
MaterialsFabric
- Pair Modern Rosewood Paul Cardovius Sofas for France & SonLocated in Toledo, OHPair of Mid-Century Modern sofas by Paul Cardovius for France & Son. Basket weave design. This item includes restricted materials and cannot be sold outside of the contiguous U S. Ve...Category
Mid-20th Century North American Modern Sofas
MaterialsRosewood
- Modern Italian Afra & Tobia Scarpa "Soriana" Sofa for Cassina circa 1969By CassinaLocated in Toledo, OHMid Century Modern three seat sofa Italian made Afra & Tobia Scarpa "Soriana" for Cassina circa 1969. Charcoal fabric held together by chrome plated metal clamps. Very nice condition...Category
Vintage 1960s European Modern Sofas
MaterialsChrome
$11,000 Sale Price31% Off
- Florence Knoll Three-Seat SofaBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Chicago, ILFlorence Knoll Three-Seat Sofa reupholstered with Great Plains "Teddy" warm silver heavy boucle made of alpaca, and wool. Solid maple-turned tapered legs.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsBouclé, Maple
- Parallel Bar Sofas By Florence KnollBy Florence KnollLocated in Sagaponack, NYA "parallel bar" frame sofa with a button tufted back on chromed steel legs.Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsSteel
$9,500 / item - Florence Knoll Parallel Bar Sofa for KnollBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in Philadelphia, PAFlorence Knoll Parallel Bar Armed Sofa. Newly reupholstered in a great weave fabric in shades of red, gray and purple. Very solid and subst...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsStainless Steel, Metal
$4,640 Sale Price38% Off - Florence Knoll 2-Seater Sofa, Classic Mid Century Modern, KnollBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in Buffalo, NYVintage Florence Knoll 2 seater 'lounge series' sofa with original 2nd generation upholstery in a coarse woven off-white mottled wool fabric. This sofa d...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Loveseats
MaterialsChrome
- Florence Knoll 3-Seat SofaBy Florence KnollLocated in Munich, DEFlorence Knoll 3-seat sofa. Nice original condition.Category
Vintage 1960s German Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsFabric
$2,196 Sale Price44% Off - 1958 Florence Knoll Parallel Bar Three Seat Sofa, Model 57 in Green FabricBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Philadelphia, PAThis is an extremely early Florence Knoll ‘Parallel Bar’ Sofa, Model 57, designed by Florence Knoll in 1958. It is a rare example of Florence K...Category
Vintage 1950s American Modern Sofas
MaterialsSteel
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
10 Trailblazing Female Designers
From pioneering visionaries to contemporary talents, get to know some of the most important women in design.
Remembering Design Visionary Florence Knoll Bassett (1917-2019)
A loving look back at the life and career of a doyenne of mid-century-modern style, who died last week at the age of 101.