Gilbert Rohde Herman Miller Art Deco 1933 World's Fair Dressers Matched Pair
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Gilbert Rohde Herman Miller Art Deco 1933 World's Fair Dressers Matched Pair
About the Item
- Creator:Gilbert Rohde (Designer),Herman Miller (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 38 in (96.52 cm)Width: 40 in (101.6 cm)Depth: 19 in (48.26 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Art Deco (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1933-1939
- Condition:Refinished. Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Dallas, TX
- Reference Number:1stDibs: 1411109452211
Gilbert Rohde
Pioneering self-taught industrial designer, writer and teacher Gilbert Rohde helped define the earliest phase of modernism in the United States. He is one of the most influential figures of 20th-century design and is credited with helping legendary mid-century modern furniture manufacturer Herman Miller avert financial disaster during the Great Depression.
Born in New York City, Rohde studied painting at the Art Students League after high school. He found lucrative employment, first as a political cartoonist and then as a catalog illustrator for American department stores. He was particularly enthralled with drawing furnished interiors.
Rohde began to design furniture in his spare time. He traveled to the Bauhaus school in Germany and the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, and drew on the Art Deco movement and the work of designers such as Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann in his early pieces. Rohde opened his own studio in 1929 and secured private and commercial commissions. His clients would come to include formidable furniture makers Heywood-Wakefield and Troy Sunshade, and his innovative bentwood furnishings for them were practical and intended for the modern consumer.
In 1930, Rohde met Herman Miller founder D.J. De Pree in the company’s Michigan showroom during a business trip. By then, Rohde had a long list of prominent clients and his furniture had been exhibited in museums and galleries. Herman Miller was weathering a devastating slowdown in business, and the American furniture industry had generally been hit hard by the Great Depression.
Rohde boldly informed De Pree that the brand’s furniture had become outdated, which was part of the reason the company was in financial jeopardy. Homes had become smaller and could no longer accommodate the large Gothic– and Victorian–style furnishings and traditional reproductions of period bedroom suites that Herman Miller was offering at the time, Rohde explained.
Rohde secured a contract to design for the Michigan manufacturer. He championed the use of exotic woods and tubular steel, and created streamlined, unadorned bedroom furniture for Herman Miller — collections that included convenient vanities, which were unconventional pieces for De Pree’s company back then.
In 1933, Rohde oversaw the design of two bedrooms featuring sleek Herman Miller furniture — including innovative storage pieces he designed — as part of an International–style exhibit at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. The installation garnered acclaim for De Pree’s brand all over the world and afforded Rohde the opportunity to execute on his visionary ideas in front of a global audience. Rohde later designed lighting, seating and more for Herman Miller and was extensively involved in the company's marketing strategy and other areas of the business.
In 1942, Herman Miller, anticipating a postwar economic boom, began to produce office furniture for the first time, but its legacy is in the home. Working with legendary designers such as Ray and Charles Eames, Isamu Noguchi and Alexander Girard, the manufacturer fostered some of the boldest expressions of what we now call mid-century modern style.
Find vintage Gilbert Rohde coffee tables, lounge chairs, table lamps and other items on 1stDibs.
Herman Miller
No other business of its kind did more than the Herman Miller Furniture Company to introduce modern design into American homes. Working with legendary designers such as Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson and Alexander Girard, the Zeeland, Michigan-based firm fostered some of the boldest expressions of what we now call mid-century modern style. In doing so, Herman Miller produced some of the most beautiful, iconic and, one can even say, noblest chairs, sofas, tables and other furniture ever.
Founded in 1923, Herman Miller was originally known for grand historicist bedroom suites: heavily ornamented wood furniture that appealed to a high-minded, wealthier clientele. The company — named for its chief financial backer — began to suffer in the early 1930s as the Great Depression hit, and D.J. De Pree, the company’s CEO, feared bankruptcy. In 1932, aid came in the form of Gilbert Rohde, a self-taught furniture designer who had traveled widely in Europe, absorbing details of the Art Deco movement and other modernist influences. After persuading De Pree that the growing middle class required smaller, lighter household furnishings, Rohde set a new course for Herman Miller, creating sleek chairs, tables and cabinetry that were the essence of the Streamline Moderne style.
Rohde died suddenly in 1944. The following year, De Pree turned to George Nelson, an architect who had written widely about modern furniture design. Under Nelson’s leadership, Herman Miller would embrace new technologies and materials and audacious biomorphic forms.
Some of the pieces the company produced are now emblems of 20th century American design, including the Eames lounge chair and ottoman and Nelson’s Marshmallow sofa and Coconut chair. Such instantly recognizable furnishings have become timeless — staples of a modernist décor; striking, offbeat notes in traditional environments.
Find a range of vintage Herman Miller office chairs, desks, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
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- Gilbert Rohde Dresser 4041 Kroehler New York World's Fair 1940 Two-Tone 44" longLocated in BUNGAY, SUFFOLKDesigner : Gilbert Rohde Model ; Dresser 4041 Honeymoon Furniture for Young America, Maker : Kroehler Exhibited : 'America at Home' at the New York World's Fair 1940. Created by Gilbert Rohde, 1940's foremost furniture designer, expressly to demonstrate modern living displayed in the 'America at Home' building at the New York World's Fair 1940. Honeymoon furniture by Kroehler is outstanding in contemporary furniture design. Notice its space saving compactness, its sturdiness, its freedom from dirt catching corners. Honeymoon furniture offers comfort, convenience and economy never before possible in the small home or apartment The use of two different coloured woods to create a two-tone effect is very striking and complements the simple form. This unusual chest of drawers is a signature piece that injects character into any interior. The raised sides sit proud of the top elevating the chest creating an elegant tray effect. The front is fitted with three drawers with original wooden knobs in contrasting dark brown laurel. The sides have a projecting section of contrasting dark brown laurel at the front which defines the form. Inverted triangular feet. "Kroehler Made" metal tag. Designer unknown. Kroehler In 1902, Peter E. Kroehler bought the Naper ville Lounge Co., a maker of wooden lounge chairs and upholstered furniture. Kroehler built a new factory in Naperville in 1913 after the original facility was destroyed by a tornado. Soon thereafter, he renamed the company Kroehler Manufacturing Co. This enterprise soon operated across the country and employed several hundred men and women in the Chicago area. By the middle of the 1940s, with over $20 million in annual sales, Kroehler was the second-largest furniture maker in the United States. During the 1960s, when the company employed close to 8,000 people around the country, annual revenues passed $100 million. The company struggled during the 1970s, closing its historic Naperville factory in 1978 and ending its operations in the area. In 1981 Kroehler was acquired by the ATR Group of Northbrook, which put the company up for sale. By the early 2000s, furniture was still manufactured under the Kroehler name by two unrelated companies, one in North Carolina and the other in Ontario, Canada. Gilbert Rhode : American, 1894 - 1944 Gilbert Rohde (1894-1944) is best known for helping to create the modern design at Herman Miller Inc. Gilbert Rohde furniture design was focused on mass production and bringing modern products to the greatest number of consumers. He is also credited with designing the first examples of biomorphic furniture in America-which would ultimately shape mid century modernism. US industrial designer, born in New York. He became familiar with cabinetmaking in his father's shop. He studied at the Art Students League and Grand Central School of Art in New York. Early work was as a drama and music critic, cartooninst, reporter, and furniture illustrator. He traveled to France and Germany in 1927 and was inspired by modernism. He opened his own office in New York in 1927, designing furniture and showrooms, and consulting with manufacturers like General Electric and Hudson Motor Car Company. In 1931 HeywoodWakefield Company introduced a compact armless leatherette side chair with bentwood rear legs designed by Rohde, which sold 250,000 over the next eight years. Rohde also developed a later version for the Herman Miller Furniture Company, which was sold dis-assembled and made by what Rohde called an "automobile type of assembly." By 1929 he had established a relationship with D.J. Depree, president of the Herman Miller Furniture Company in Zeeland, MI and prepared some designs for him. Dupree appointed him director of design there in 1932 as part of his decision to shift the company’s orientation from traditional to modern design. His first modern design for the company, a No. 2185 Group bedroom suite was shown at the Chicago Century of Progress. Also in 1932, Rohde exhibited his furniture designs in a "Design for Machine" exhibit in Philadelphia, along with designs of Russel Wright. The Herman Miller Clock...Category
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