Two Seat Sofas By Florence Knoll
View Similar Items
Two Seat Sofas By Florence Knoll
About the Item
- Creator:Knoll (Manufacturer),Florence Knoll (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 48 in (121.92 cm)Depth: 24 in (60.96 cm)Seat Height: 17.25 in (43.82 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1954
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. light wear to black enamel tubular steel frame.
- Seller Location:Rochester, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU96111021996
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 skillfully realized office plans and polished, efficient designs for sofas, credenzas, desks and other furnishings.
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.
Florence Knoll's main work came as head of the Knoll Planning Group, designing custom office interiors for clients such as IBM and CBS. The furniture she 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.
Find vintage Florence Knoll sofas, benches, armchairs and other furniture 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.
- 18th Century Painted Venetian SetteeLocated in Rochester, NY`Antique 18th century Venetian settee in beautifully aged old painted and worn parcel gilded surface. Early construction. Losses to gilding showing und...Category
Antique Late 18th Century Italian Neoclassical Settees
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- 711 Daybed Sofas by Tito Agnoli for CinovaBy Tito AgnoliLocated in Rochester, NYModel 711 daybed sofas by Tito Agnoli for Cinova, c. 1960's, Italy. Original finely stitched creamsicle orange textured vinyl upholstery. Arms and back drop down easily converting sofas...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Post-Modern Sofas
MaterialsMetal
$3,800 / item - Franco Albini Style Rattan SetteeBy Franco Albini, BonacinaLocated in Rochester, NYWoven bent natural rattan and cane wrapped settee with a beautifully designed sculptural form. In the style of Franco Albini. Circa 1960-1970. Very good all original condition. Look ...Category
Mid-20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Settees
MaterialsCane, Rattan
- Knoll Studio Collection - Binder - Catalogues - Price List - Year 2000By Eero Saarinen, Knoll, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer, Fritz HansenLocated in Rochester, NYKnoll three ring binder w/ Knoll collection catalogues and the Knoll Studio price list - 306 pages showing images, diagrams, dimensions, finishes, fabrics - for the year 2000 collect...Category
Early 2000s American Mid-Century Modern Books
MaterialsPaper
- Hollywood Regency Tuxedo Loveseat Exotic Upholstery Mythological Fauns SeascapeLocated in Rochester, NYHollywood Regency tuxedo form loveseat w/ an exotic vintage stitched quilted design cotton upholstery in overall decoration showing mythological faun f...Category
Mid-20th Century American Hollywood Regency Loveseats
MaterialsUpholstery, Wood
- Swivel Seat Stools by Kai Pedersen Woodworking Studio, USA, 1980By Kai PedersenLocated in Rochester, NYA pair of American studio craft movement hand-turned, hand joined swivel seat stools ( there is a metal rotating mechanism between the top and bottom of the two section designed seat...Category
20th Century American American Craftsman Stools
MaterialsWood
- Florence Knoll, Sofa Model 66A for Knoll, circa 1960By Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Paris, FRTwo seat sofa model 66A designed by Florence Knoll and produced by Knoll International, circa 1960. This chair was manufactured only from 1958 to 1975. Newly re-upholstered with a ...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- 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
- Aged Knoll Style Brown Leather Two Seater Sofa Chesterfield Style ButtoningBy KnollLocated in GBWe are delighted to offer for sale this lovely Knoll style brown leather two seater sofa chesterfield style buttoning. This piece is good looking and super comfortable, everything compliments with the soft leather. The Knoll style makes it very stylish to add style to any room. The colour would uplift the interior space of any contemporary or modern home. The classic colour brings out its elegance and taste. I am also selling an armchair in a separated listing. Please have a closer look at the pictures because they form part of the description. Antique and vintage/used items will show signs of wear which form part of their character. All our items are cleaned thoroughly, then a coat of wax is applied to revive the leather/wood and finally hand polished. Dimensions (cm) Height 83/41 to...Category
20th Century English Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsLeather
$1,886 Sale Price20% Off - Midcentury Florence Knoll Style Settee by PatricianBy Patrician Furniture Co, Florence KnollLocated in New York, NYOriginally made in the 1970s, this two-seater settee by Patrician Furniture Company takes after the iconic Florence Knoll sofa, with its combination of angular and soft lines. The se...Category
Vintage 1970s Mid-Century Modern Settees
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
$2,192 Sale Price44% Off - Early Florence Knoll 3-Seat Model 26 SofaBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Brooklyn, NYVery early Florence Knoll sofa, circa late 1940s, in vintage oatmeal nubby wool Knoll fabric, with down seat and back cushions. The six inset legs make...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsTextile, Maple
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.