Pair of Rare Small 3-Drawer Birch Dressers | Nightstands by Florence Knoll
View Similar Items
Pair of Rare Small 3-Drawer Birch Dressers | Nightstands by Florence Knoll
About the Item
- Creator:Knoll (Manufacturer),Florence Knoll (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 23.63 in (60 cm)Width: 15.75 in (40 cm)Depth: 15.75 in (40 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1948
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Dronten, NL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU9314943308
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.
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.
- Florence Knoll Coffee TableBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in Dronten, NLFlorence Knoll for Knoll International coffee table in white enameled steel and black laminate. Signed with decal manufacturer's label to underside. Literature: Knoll Furniture: 193...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Red Leather 72" Bench by Florence Knoll for Knoll InternationalBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in Dronten, NLWhat a bold statement! Not the obligatory black leather, this Florence Knoll 72" Bench for Knoll is executed in the most exquisite red spinneybeck leather. Classic Knoll Design, fits...Category
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- Dining Table Model 578 in Walnut by Florence KnollBy Florence Knoll, Knoll, Nordiska KompanietLocated in Dronten, NLFlorence Knoll model 578 dining or conference table. The table features a boat shaped top in walnut with an enameled square tubular steel base. The beautiful book matched walnut tabl...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Large Florence Knoll Teak Boat Shaped Dining TableBy Nordiska Kompaniet, Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in Dronten, NLRare Florence Knoll for Knoll International model 578 dining table, circa 1958. Measures: 8 ft. long, seats 8-10 people. Large conference table with boat shaped top in teak and enam...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Conference Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Florence Knoll Model 65 Slipper Lounge Chair, 1956By Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in Dronten, NLSlipper chair designed in 1955 by Florence Knoll and produced by Knoll International. Model No. 65, produced from 1955-1973. We bought this chair directly from the family who bough...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsChrome
- Pair of Original Drawer Units from the Arne Jacobsen Royal SAS Hotel, CopenhagenBy Arne JacobsenLocated in Dronten, NLVery rare original pair of drawers made in 1958 exclusively for the hotel rooms of the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen. Including the original stainless steel wall brackets. Museum pie...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Night Stands
MaterialsFormica, Wenge
- Florence Knoll Nightstand in WalnutBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Houston, TXFlorence Knoll nightstand in walnut Knoll, USA, 1956. Walnut. Measures: 18 W x 18 D x 20 H inches. Nightstand has a single drawer ab...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsWalnut
- Pair of Florence Knoll White Laminate and Walnut Square Nightstands / End TablesBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in New York, NYPair of American mid-century square nightstands / end tables with white laminate tops above a walnut base with a single drawer, resting on four squar...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsWood, Laminate, Walnut
- Pair Mid-Century Walnut with white laminate Top Nightstands by Florence KnollBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in BROOKLYN, NYPair of beautiful Florence knoll single drawer nightstands or side tables. Walnut single drawer nightstands with clean white laminate tops. Solid Oak drawers with single white divide...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsWalnut, Laminate, Oak
- Florence Knoll Walnut Nightstands for KnollBy Florence KnollLocated in Cincinnati, OHA pair of dark walnut nightstands each having a single drawer and one with a lower shelve . This very well crafted pair of nightstands with a s...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsWalnut
$3,200 / set - Pair of 2-Drawer Gold Trim Mirrored NightstandsBy VenfieldLocated in New York, NYPair of custom 2-drawer gold trim mirrored nightstands. Customization is available in different sizes, finishes and hardware.Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Night Stands
MaterialsGold
$9,800 / set - Pair of Brass Clad Three-Drawer Nightstands by Sarreid Ltd.By Sarreid Ltd.Located in Brooklyn, NYGreat pair of brass-clad and copper-nail studded 3-drawer chests by Sarreid, Ltd., circa 1970s. Smaller in scale, these richly patinated cabinets make ideal bedside nightstands. Plea...Category
Vintage 1970s Spanish Regency Night Stands
MaterialsBrass
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.