Art and Trade Shop Unit Cabinet

Unit furniture of Philippine mahogany with white Masonite panels consisting of a module with sliding Masonite doors and a double wide module with an open front. Designed by Harvard-educated, Boston-area architect, designer, and urban planner Carl Koch as a corollary to his prefabricated Techbuilt houses and produced in 1955. Koch was a pioneering champion of prefabrication in housing in mid-century America, first with his much-publicized but ill-fated all-steel Lustron houses in the late 1930’s, then with his more successful wooden Tech-Built houses, introduced in 1953. In At Home with Tomorrow, his 1958 paean to prefabrication, he lays out his opposition to the traditional hammer-and-handsaw construction methods that remained dominant even with conceptually modernist structures. His designs generally hewed to a regional brand of modernism rather than orthodox international style, taking into account local topography and climate—his iconic form is an A-frame with a pitched roof, more sensible in New England winters than a flat roof (though there are such Techbuilt designs). The basic Techbuilt formula suggested that modular, industrial production methods of the components combined with knock-down shipping and on-site assembly equalled lower cost and less waste. Variety and individuality could be achieved in how the elements were combined. This underlying philosophy involving modularity, flexibility, and industrial production methods applied to Spacemaking furniture as well, although interestingly enough, the furniture design preceded the architectural application, as Koch (et al) had submitted a version to the 1947 MoMA Low-Cost Furniture Competition (and so these units also preceded the famous 1951 Eames Storage Unit, a conceptually similar idea executed with metal framing). The furniture line began with requests for freestanding wardrobe...

Atelier International catalog in original printed plastic ring binder, with tabbed sections for Seating, Armchairs, Tables, Storage, and Office Furniture. The roster of designers fea...

First edition, 4-color offset printed poster of this influential and now iconic Psychedelic-era image, commissioned as a call for entries for the 46th annual Exhibition of Advertising and Editorial Art and Design. Designed by Tom Daly, who also did the body painting with theatrical greasepaint and water-soluble acrylics on model Wandy Embry, and photographed by Kenneth Harris...

Foundational tome on modern graphic design, tracing the field from its origins in the 19th century through the late 1950’s. Published in 1959 by Arthur Niggli in Switzerland with tex...

Art Deco cadbury’s sweet shop display cabinet This a small but charming cadbury’s sweet shop display cabinet it is a counter top piece, it is in the shap...

Cabinet with hanging storage elements with sliding, hinged, drawer and open compartments, solid wood and teak veneer, brass details.

Smiths Watchmakers shop display cabinet A lovely piece, the cabinet has been made to sit on a shop counter The interior has 3 long drawers accessed from the back and a glazed sloping front section . This is divided into 3 and Has the iconic Crown set over “SMITHS DE LUX WATCHES...

For sale is a top quality Victorian mahogany bow ended showcase, having two drop doors at the back, opening to a red velvet lined interior, the cabinet stand...