Florence Knoll Executive Desk
View Similar Items
Florence Knoll Executive Desk
About the Item
- Creator:Florence Knoll (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 76.13 in (193.38 cm)Depth: 36.25 in (92.08 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. In very good condition with the desk top and black panels restored.
- Seller Location:Cincinnati, OH
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU92516337443
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.
- 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 - T Angle Side Table by Florence Knoll for KnollBy Florence KnollLocated in Cincinnati, OHA very nice simple side table with satin black T angled steel frame and with a white Laminate top . A very early production piece having the big fabric label to the bottom from Knoll...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Rare Knoll # 2577BC Steel Base Sofa by Florence KnollBy Florence KnollLocated in Cincinnati, OHA rare tufted horizonal upholstered sofa in an oatmeal tight woven fabric with floating back . Having an architectural satin black steel base with square tubular legs and plastic foo...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsSteel
- Early T Angle Extension Dining Table by Florence Knoll for KnollBy Florence KnollLocated in Cincinnati, OHA well crafted smaller extension dining table with white Laminate top and satin black angled steel base with foot pads . This brilliant de...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Rare Early Knoll Tubular Steel Base Settee # 32 by Florence KnollBy Florence KnollLocated in Cincinnati, OHA rare tubular satin black steel framed based settee with oatmeal colored upholstery . Great for a smaller space or an area where you want to keep things simple and light , the sofa ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Settees
MaterialsSteel
- Early T Angle Walnut Coffee Table / Bench by Florence Knoll # 332 for Knoll (B)By Florence KnollLocated in Cincinnati, OHA very early and rare segmented topped walnut coffee table or bench with satin black T angled metal base . This architectural styled piece would fit into almost any interior room or ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Vintage Walnut Executive Desk by Florence KnollBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in North Hollywood, CAAmazing vintage executive desk designed by architect and furniture designer Florence Knoll in the United States, circa 1960s. This iconic design...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- Florence Knoll DeskBy Florence KnollLocated in Chicago, ILKnoll International Planed Office Group double pedestal desk with modesty panel model 1503. Features five drawers one for files. Modesty panel shows st...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsMetal
$5,198 - Florence Knoll DeskBy Florence KnollLocated in Chicago, ILKnoll International Planed Office Group double pedestal desk with modesty panel model 1503. Features five drawers one for files. Modesty panel shows steel reveal details. (Ten mor...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsMetal
$5,198 - Florence Knoll Style Mid Century Rosewood and Chrome Executive DeskBy Florence KnollLocated in Countryside, ILFlorence Knoll Style Mid Century Rosewood and Chrome Executive Desk This desk measures: 82 wide x 38 deep x 29.25 high, with a chair clearance of 27.25 inches All pieces of furnitu...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsChrome
- 1950s Florence Knoll Double Pedestal Walnut Chrome and Laminate Executive DeskBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in Philadelphia, PAListed for sale is a double pedestal desk, model 1503, designed by Florence Knoll and produced by Knoll Associates. This is an original example dating to circa late 1950s. It is cons...Category
Vintage 1960s American Modern Desks
MaterialsChrome
- 1960s Florence Knoll Executive Desk in Walnut w/ Chromed-Steel X-Base Model 2485By Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in Philadelphia, PAThis is a Florence Knoll Executive Desk, Model 2485, initially designed by Florence Knoll for Knoll in 1954. This particular example date...Category
Vintage 1960s American Modern Desks
MaterialsChrome, Steel
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.