Billy Baldwin Studio Ebonized Wood & Glass Coffee Table
View Similar Items
Billy Baldwin Studio Ebonized Wood & Glass Coffee Table
About the Item
- Creator:Billy Baldwin (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)Width: 48 in (121.92 cm)Depth: 30 in (76.2 cm)
- Style:Modern (In the Style Of)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:2020
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Hopewell, NJ
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU919826495032
Billy Baldwin
Billy Baldwin had the unusual distinction of being the first man to break the glass ceiling of interior decoration, which before WWII was ruled by a coterie of ladies.
The look that Baldwin championed in the mid-century was entirely American: classical in foundation, but modern in spirit, free of ostentation and unconcerned with trends. “Be faithful to your own taste,” he used to tell clients, “because nothing you really like is ever out of style.”
By the 1960s, just about every American taste-making blue blood was Baldwin's client, including Jackie Onassis, Pamela Harriman, Nan Kempner, Bunny Mellon and Babe Paley. If you ever wondered who was responsible for Diana Vreeland’s unforgettable “garden in hell” crimson drawing room, it was Billy B, as his friends called him.
“I always say I love color better than people,” he once remarked. He also loved cotton, calling it “his life,” detested damask and satin, and claimed to have “made a lady out of wicker.” His quips were legendary.
Unlike most decorators of his era, Baldwin believed that every project should feature furnishings already belonging to the client, so that the client’s personality would manifest in the room’s atmosphere. That atmosphere would emerge out of Baldwin’s selection of other furnishings — both old and new, American, European and Asian — and his choice of colors, mix of patterns and keen sense of proportion and scale. If good antiques were beyond a client’s budget, he advised buying top contemporary pieces, rather than reproductions. What was important was quality, as well as comfort. A resolute anti-snob, Baldwin detested pretentious people. He believed decorating was a collaborative adventure embarked on with the client.
Embracing of new materials, including fake leather and plastic, in the mid-1950s, Baldwin covered the walls of Cole Porter’s tony Waldorf Astoria suite in tortoise shell vinyl. For that project, possibly his masterwork, he also designed floor-to-ceiling brass étagères, as he felt it “would be extravagant to do built-in bookcases for an apartment in a hotel.” His enthusiasm for chintz slipcovers prompted Porter to threaten, “Don’t you dare slipcover these pianos!” When the hotel suite was published, the étagères began showing up everywhere. Baldwin was not pleased. “If I find that something I am doing is becoming a trend, I run from it like the plague,” he declared.
For the New York City apartment of William and Babe Paley in the St. Regis hotel, Baldwin covered the damaged walls in a shirred geometric fabric, which started another trend. Among other much-copied design signatures were low slipper chairs, swing arm brass lamps, dark-hued rooms, rattan-wrapped Parson’s tables and arresting orchestrations of brilliantly patterned cotton prints.
When he turned 70, Baldwin retired and a few years later decamped to Nantucket where he had often summered, and which he loved in part for its strong, clear New England light. When he died at 80, he had influenced a generation of American decorators and shaped the tastes of Americans on a mass-scale, even those who never knew his name.
Browse a wide range of Billy Baldwin furniture on 1stDibs.
- Smashing Billy Baldwin Style Mid-Century Modern EtagereBy Billy BaldwinLocated in Hopewell, NJBilly Baldwin style etagere with pagoda form top in polished nickel, glass shelves and brass accents. The distances between each shelf (from top to bottom) are: 18.5, 13, 24.5, 18.25...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Shelves
MaterialsNickel
- Fabulous Pair of Billy Baldwin Upholstered X Motif BenchesBy Billy BaldwinLocated in Hopewell, NJSuper stylish iconic Billy Baldwin upholstered benches having classic X shaped stretchers. Newly updated with smashing Quadrille grey blue and white faux leopard fabric with brass na...Category
Vintage 1980s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsUpholstery
- Stunning Widdicomb Adam Style Paint Decorated Wood & Glass Coffee TableBy Widdicomb Furniture Co.Located in Hopewell, NJSuper elegant Widdicomb paint decorated glossy wood coffee table in the Adam style having a lovely rectangular shape with rounded sides. The stunning faux ...Category
Early 2000s American Adam Style Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsGlass, Wood
- Handsome Asian Style Brass Tray Coffee Table with Ebonized BaseBy Baker Furniture CompanyLocated in Hopewell, NJHandsome brass tray top cocktail table having ebonized base with carved apron having Asian flair.Category
Vintage 1980s American Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Chic Italian Carved Wood Shell Base Coffee Table with Round Glass TopLocated in Hopewell, NJItalian 1960s hand carved wood that looks like a monumental shell having a natural faux finish. Glass is substantial, 5/8" thick, bull nosed edge. Shell is 27 W 21 D 18 H 36" round...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsGlass, Wood
- Sophisticated Cerused Wood Rectangular Coffee Table with Matching End TablesLocated in Hopewell, NJSleek sophisticated coffee table and two matching end tables in a contemporary cerused wood. Legs are beautifully angularly shaped on the coffee ta...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWood
- Billy Baldwin Oak and Glass Dining TableBy Billy BaldwinLocated in Chicago, ILThis Billy Baldwin dining table with a 3/4" thick glass top and pickled oak wood frame is a stunning and sophisticated addition to any dining room. The table's sleek design and high-...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsGlass, Oak
- Matte Black, Ebonized Wood Coffee TableLocated in West Hollywood, CADark ebonized wood coffee table evocative of Axel Vervoordt and other Belgian modern designers.Category
2010s Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsOak
- Chinese Ebonized & Gilt Wood Coffee TableLocated in New York, NYChinese ebonized and gilt wood coffee or cocktail table with intricate design elements: Style: Chinese, potentially incorporating influences from Ming or Qing Dynasty styles. Mater...Category
20th Century Chinese Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWood
- Ebonized Wood, Glass and Chrome Coffee Table, Mid-Century ModernLocated in Nantucket, MAA very unusual Mid-Century Modern coffee table. It features ebonized legs in a faux Horn motif, chrome detailing with a curved glass top and etched glass second shelf. As of this wri...Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsChrome
- English Victorian Scalloped Gold Glass and Ebonized Wood Coffee TableLocated in New York, NYEnglish Victorian-style coffee table with a scalloped gold plexiglass inset top resting in an ebonized Queen Anne-style base.Category
20th Century English Victorian Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsEbony, Glass
- Crystallized Quartz Coffee Table with Ebonized Wood BaseBy VenfieldLocated in New York, NYCustom crystallized quartz coffee table with ebonized wood base. Customization is available in different sizes, base finishes and quartz tops.Category
2010s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsQuartz