Vintage Knoll Bertoia Counter Height Stool, Model 426C
About the Item
- Creator:Knoll (Manufacturer),Harry Bertoia (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 38.5 in (97.79 cm)Width: 21 in (53.34 cm)Depth: 23 in (58.42 cm)Seat Height: 26.75 in (67.95 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1968
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Minor fading. This classic stool is, in our opinion, in totally usable condition, if you enjoy a bit of patina and signs of time and use. There are nicks and scratches to the base and there is very light rust on seat . Please see photos.
- Seller Location:West Reading, PA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU6939236261702
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 modernism. Among furniture aficionados he is known for 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, Bertoia 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. There, 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 Cranbrook, 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.
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Reading, PA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Sculptural Arched Vintage Lucite and Upholstered Vanity Stool or BenchBy Hill Manufacturing, Charles Hollis JonesLocated in West Reading, PACharming high-quality vanity bench designed by Charles Hollis Jones in the 1970s, and produced by Hill Manufacturing. The piece retains the Hill Manufacturing tag underneath the se...Category
Vintage 1970s American Minimalist Benches
MaterialsLucite
- Chiara Lounge Chair by Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance for Bernhardt Design, Model 4755By Noé Duchaufour-LawranceLocated in West Reading, PAThis is a 'Chiara' Lounge Chair, Model 4755, initially designed by Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance for Bernhardt Design in 2013. This particular example dates to around 2018. The chair fea...Category
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Vintage Cubist Clay SculptureBy Henry MooreLocated in West Reading, PAThis is a very vintage, marginally figural clay sculpture, depicting what seems to be a group of curvy female characters. The unknown artist attached the sculpture to a piece of we...Category
Vintage 1930s American Folk Art Figurative Sculptures
MaterialsClay
- Large Vintage Abstract Expressionist Painting, ca. 1960s, American 44 x 64By (after) Paul KleeLocated in West Reading, PAThis impressive painting is quite large in scale, and is stretched so that all sides are completely finished. It’s orientation was photographed as such according to where the hanging...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Acrylic
- Vintage Sculptural Art Deco Club Lounge Chair in Black VelvetBy Donald DeskeyLocated in West Reading, PAThis is a large, sophisticated lounge chair, having an Art Deco silhouette. The gracious, soaring arms add that Deco drama. It is generously padded, and is currently upholstered in ...Category
Vintage 1980s American Art Deco Lounge Chairs
MaterialsVelvet, Foam, Hardwood
- 1970s Pair of Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller DCMU chairsBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman MillerLocated in West Reading, PAThis is a pair of DCMU chairs, designed in 1970 by Charles and Ray Eames for Herman Miller. They were a newer, upholstered take on the classic bent wood DCM chair. The seat and back...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Plastic
- Mid-Century Modern Knoll Bertoia Wire Bar Counter StoolBy Knoll, Harry BertoiaLocated in Port Jervis, NYSingle Knoll bar stool by Harry Bertoia. Seat pad labeled with tag and printed into the fabric Knoll. Has some loss to vinyl coating, pictured. Very ti...Category
Vintage 1980s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Bertoia for Knoll StoolBy Harry Bertoia, KnollLocated in New York, NYClassic Bertoia design counter stool manufactured by Knoll International, circa 1950s-1960s. This example is in very good original condition, showing only light cosmetic wear, normal...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsWrought Iron
- 2021 Harry Bertoia for Knoll Counter Stool in White with Full CoverBy Harry Bertoia, KnollLocated in Philadelphia, PAThis is a classic 2021 production Harry Bertoia for Knoll Counter Stool, Model 426C, originally designed in 1952. The piece is fabricated of a wel...Category
2010s American Modern Stools
MaterialsSteel
- Set of 6 Harry Bertoia Bar Stools for KnollBy Harry Bertoia, KnollLocated in Boynton Beach, FLSet of 6 bar stools by Harry Bertoia for Knoll. A beautiful and classic design by one of the most notable Mid Century designer and artist. Each one retains its original white powder ...Category
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsMetal
- Early Fiberglass shell and Metal Bertoia Bar Stools, Harry Bertoia for KnollBy Harry Bertoia, KnollLocated in Buffalo, NYEarly fiberglass shell and metal Bertoia bar stools, Harry Bertoia for Knoll, structurally sound, wear to original black molded fiberglass tops, retain original early KNOLL labels.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsMetal
- Midcentury Chrome Bar Stools by Harry Bertoia for KnollBy Harry Bertoia, KnollLocated in BROOKLYN, NYMid century classic and iconic Bertoia for Knoll stools in a high chrome finish. Architectural design, clean original condition, ready to use. Very solid and sturdy showing no loss t...Category
Early 2000s American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsSteel, Stainless Steel, Chrome