Harvey Probber Four-Drawer Chest
View Similar Items
Harvey Probber Four-Drawer Chest
About the Item
- Creator:Harvey Probber (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 36.75 in (93.35 cm)Width: 42 in (106.68 cm)Depth: 19 in (48.26 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1960s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Refinished. The case and interiors are in excellent condition. Wear to the brass pulls consistent with age and use (see photos).
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU82857076323
Harvey Probber
A popular designer who had his heyday from the late 1940s into the 1970s, Harvey Probber is one of the post-war American creative spirits whose work has been recently rediscovered by collectors. His designs are by-and-large simple and elegant, but his signal achievement was to pioneer one of the key innovations of mid-20th century furniture: sectional, or modular, seating.
Even as a teenager, the Brooklyn-born Probber was making sketches of furniture designs — and selling them to Manhattan furniture companies. He began working as a designer for an upholsterer once he finished high school and, apart from a few evening classes he took as an adult at Pratt Institute, he was self-taught about design and furniture making.
After wartime service — and a stint as a lounge singer — Probber founded his own company in the late 1940s. A lifelong familiarity with the needs of New York–apartment dwellers doubtless sparked his most noteworthy creation: a line of seating pieces in basic geometric shapes — wedges, squares, half-circles — that could be arranged and combined as needed. Modular furniture remained the core idea of Probber’s business throughout his career.
As a self-trained designer, Probber was never wed to any particular aesthetic. He preferred the simple lines now associated with mid-century modernism for their inherent practicality, but often used hardware to enliven the look of his pieces, or added elements — such as a ceramic insert in the center of a round dining table — that was visually interesting and could serve as a trivet. He gravitated toward bright fabrics with attractive, touchable textures that might be satin-like or nubbly. Above all, Probber insisted that the sofas, case goods and other products that came out of his Fall River, Massachusetts, factory be built to last.
“The quality of aging gracefully,” Probber once told an interviewer, is “design's fourth dimension.” This quality he realized: Probber furniture is just as useful and alluring now as it was when made — and maybe even more stylish.
Find a collection of vintage Harvey Probber side tables, sectional sofas, chairs and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- Pascoe Industries Double Chest of DrawersBy Clifford PascoeLocated in New York, NYStorage unit composed of two four-drawer (#9568) chests atop a single “LA” series base with laminated plywood legs. Designed by Clifford Pascoe for Pascoe Industries and produced cir...Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsBirch, Mahogany
- Norman Cherner Chest of Drawers for Multiflex CorpBy Multiflex Corp., Norman ChernerLocated in New York, NYModular nine-drawer "Studio Group" chest composed of walnut with a white micarta top, lacquered masonite drawer bottoms and angle-steel pulls and frame. The “Curtainwall” principle applied to furniture, allowing easy extension in either a vertical or horizontal direction. An elegant riff on the Eames ESU, designed by Norman Cherner (along with Matthew Cooper) and manufactured by the Multiflex Corp circa 1954. The present unit has three banks of three drawers; the full-length angled steel pulls contribute to the overall graphic scheme of contrasting stripes. The Studio Group was featured in George Nelson’s Storage book and was a MoMA Good Design selection in 1954. The frame, which disassembles to a large degree, is held together with brass buttons. Cherner famously designed the narrow-waisted Plycraft armchair along with an award-winning furniture line for Konwiser and was the author of the 1953 book Make Your Own Modern Furniture. Along with a sliding door cabinet and a double-tall unit...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsSteel
- Dan Kiley Tall CabinetBy Dan KileyLocated in New York, NYTall cabinet of solid and painted wood, with six drawers and two doors, by renowned architect and landscape designer Dan Kiley. Basically, a freestanding built-in from the Charles an...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsWood
$18,000 - Unique Elaine Lustig Cohen CabinetBy Elaine Lustig CohenLocated in New York, NYTwo-piece custom cabinet of birch with black-and-white lacquered fronts, designed by Elaine Lustig Cohen (1927-2016) circa 1961 for her own townhouse on the Upper East Side in New Yo...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsSteel
- Group of Four Laverne PlantersBy Erwine & Estelle Laverne, Laverne InternationalLocated in New York, NYGroup of four sculptural planters of aluminum and iron, designed by Estelle & Erwine Laverne and produced by Laverne International circa 1950's. Accordin...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Planters and Jardinieres
MaterialsAluminum, Iron
$4,500 / set - Set of Four Design For Leisure Barstools in Chrome and UltrasuedeLocated in New York, NYSet of four Design For Leisure barstools in chrome with original black Ultrasuede fabric. Well-made with heavy columnar chrome bases with footrests. ...Category
1990s American Mid-Century Modern Stools
MaterialsChrome
- Harvey Probber Chest of DrawersBy Harvey ProbberLocated in New York, NYMid-Century Modern chest of drawers by Harvey Probber. Harvey Probber chest of drawers in bleached mahogany with four drawers brass sabots to the feet. Inside two top drawers have wh...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsWood, Mahogany
- Eight Drawer Chest of Drawers or Jewelry Chest in Rosewood by Harvey ProbberBy Harvey ProbberLocated in Ft Lauderdale, FLEight drawer chest of drawers or jewelry chest in rosewood by Harvey Probber. Jewelry, lingerie, silver or chest or drawers with eight drawers, rosewood fronts, ebonized oak sides...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsChrome
- Harvey Probber Black Lacquer Mahogany Brass Hardware and Legs 4 Drawer ChestBy Paul McCobb, Harvey ProbberLocated in Rockaway, NJMid-Century Modern black lacquer mahogany brass hardware bachelor chest compact dresser by Harvey Probber.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsBrass
- Mid-Century Modern Chest of Drawers Harvey ProbberBy Harvey ProbberLocated in New York, NYMid-Century Modern Harvey Probber Chest of drawers. Low chest of drawers by Harvey Probber in bleached mahogany with three drawers set on plinth base. Top two drawers have white lami...Category
Vintage 1960s North American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of D...
MaterialsMahogany
- Pair of Rosewood and Mahogany Chests by Harvey ProbberBy Harvey ProbberLocated in New York, NYPair of tailored chests designed by Harvey Probber, having rosewood drawer fronts, tops and sides with dark mahogany trim, and legs, with brass feet. Both are in good, original condition, showing some cosmetic signs of age and use. Each dresser has three drawers, each drawer front is 7.75 inch H. Originally designed as dressers, these would also function well as large night tables...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsMahogany, Rosewood
- Set of 3 Harvey Probber Wooden Two Drawer and Open Cabinet NightstandsBy Harvey ProbberLocated in New York, NYSET of 3 American Mid-Century rectangular wooden nightstands / commodes with two upper drawers with small circular antiqued brass drawer pulls...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsBrass, Metal
