1960s Stools

Classic Eero Saarinen Tulip stool with grey leather for Knoll.

Swivel stool with new cognac leather upholstery. Marked at the bottom, Knoll International. Eero Saarinen is one of the most iconic and recognized designers from the mid-century. He was a Finnish-American architect famous for designing the Washington Dulles International Airport and is now considered one of the greatest of American 20th-century architecture. It was around 1938 he met Charles Eames who he became close friends with. Together they designed a collection of moulded plywood chairs for the 1940 Organic Design in Home Furnishings competition, sponsored by the MoMa. Their collection received prizes in many categories. In the same period Saarinen met Florence Knoll. When Knoll was starting his company, it was a obvious choice for Eero Saarinen to join him. It was at Knoll where Saarinen designed many of his most famous and classic design pieces. Items like the “Grasshopper” lounge chair, “Tulip” dining chair and table, the “Tulip” side and coffee table and the “Womb” sofa...

Classic Mid-Century Modern set of four armless tulip, side, dining chairs, for Knoll designed by Eero Saarinen (USA 1910-1961) for Knoll Furniture International in 1956. Features molded white lacquered fiberglass form resting on cast aluminum swivel base with original knoll removable indigo blue cushions. Genuine Knoll chairs and retains the ‘Knoll Associates sticker (320 Park Ave.) and Knoll Associates Inc’ label attached to the underside and stamped BR 51. An elegant and iconic design with its distinctive tulip shape. This time-honored example of Mid-Century Modern design can be incorporated into virtually any decorating style for additional seating in any room of your home or office effortlessly. The stickers applied to Knoll furniture pieces are helpful in determining the date and authenticity of a particular piece. In the late ‘40s and early ‘50s Knoll occupied showrooms on Madison Avenue. After 1961 Knoll’s offices were located at 320 Park Ave., and in 1970 they moved to 745 Fifth Ave. The logo on this set identifies the chairs for the time period after 1961 and before 1970. Measurements: 31.89? Tall x 17.33? Wide x 20,08? Deep (the base is 17.3 in diameter) About Florence Knoll (Designer) 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 post-war 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...

Original piece that preserves the same fabric and dates from the late 1960s, features details at the base that give it character. Seat swivel mechanism works perfectly.  

Vintage white tulip stool designed by Eero Saarinen for Knoll. This petite stool echoes the organic modern form of the designer's Pedestal Collection. Made...

Two Eero Saarinen for Knoll swivel stools, circa early 1960s. These examples have their original finish to the iron tulip bases and have been newly upholstered in a lovely Designtex ...

Swivel top stool designed by Eero Saarinen and manufactured by Knoll. Completely original. Tan vinyl (some call this leather. It’s not) seat and white tulip base.

Four Eero Saarinen for Knoll swivel stools, circa early 1960s. These examples have their original finish to the iron tulip bases and have been newly upholstered in a lovely Maharam textile...

Set of three tulip stools designed by Eero Saarinen in 1956 for Knoll. Two of them are upholstered with navy blue fabric and the third one with dark green fabric. Stools bear origina...

Eero Saarinen swiveling Tulip stool, Knoll ca.1960's Original fabric

Early swiveling Tulip Stools with leather upholstery by Eero Saarinen for Knoll International. Made in USA circa 1960s. Priced individually.

Set of four swivel stools designed by Eero Saarinen for Knoll. Newly upholstered in green Knoll Cato fabric.