Eero Saarinen for Knoll International, Tulip Low Table, Marble Top, Design 1958
About the Item
- Creator:Knoll (Manufacturer),Eero Saarinen (Designer)
- Design:Saarinen Pedestal TableSaarinen Pedestal Series
- Dimensions:Height: 21.07 in (53.5 cm)Diameter: 35.44 in (90 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Wargrave, GB
- Reference Number:
Pedestal Table
Finnish-American architect and furniture maker Eero Saarinen (1910–61) declared that he “wanted to clear up the slum of legs” crowded beneath tables. Enter his Pedestal collection, which Knoll launched in 1958. The collection included armchairs, stools and tables of various sizes all balanced on a single supporting leg.
Saarinen got his start in furniture as a student at Michigan’s Cranbrook Academy of Art, where his father, architect Eliel Saarinen, was director. Some of Eero’s earliest work was designing furniture for Kingswood, a Cranbrook school for girls that opened in 1931. The pieces included a table with four gathered legs in order to make room for both people and chairs’ legs.
At Cranbrook Academy, Saarinen met Florence Knoll, who would become a lifelong friend and professional partner, especially when she was leading the Knoll furniture company. He also met fellow designer Charles Eames, and — with support from Ray Eames — they created the molded plywood Organic chair, which placed first in the 1940 Organic Design in Home Furnishings competition organized by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. As with Saarinen’s future practice, the Organic chair was emblematic of a design approach that was informed by a consideration of the human body as well as the possibilities of new machine processes.
Although America’s involvement in World War II disrupted plans to manufacture the Organic chair, Saarinen continued to explore organic shapes in industrial design. His interest in using seamless plastic forms was clear with his Pedestal series, but the technology was not advanced enough for their stability. Instead, the Pedestal table and its accompanying Tulip armchairs and armless chairs comprised cast-aluminum bases. Each table, stool and chair was crafted with a single, tapered cylindrical leg that descends to a base that flares into a circle, giving the illusion of being one piece. Like his Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the series’ pieces appear to float, and although austere in silhouette, they reflect intense attention to engineering.
The Pedestal table was released with several additional options, including marble and wood veneer for its round and oval tops for dining, side and coffee tables. Because of their modest footprint on a room and streamlined design, these tables can harmonize with nearly any interior style. The design’s status as a mid-century modern classic has inspired numerous imitators, but Saarinen’s original Pedestal table — still manufactured by Knoll — maintains the grace and quality that distinguishes it from the rest.
Eero Saarinen
Through his work as an architect and designer, Eero Saarinen was a prime mover in the introduction of modernism into the American mainstream. Particularly affecting were the organic, curvilinear forms seen in Saarinen’s furniture and his best-known structures: the gull-winged TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy airport in New York (opened 1962), Dulles International Airport in Virginia (1962) and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri (1965).
Saarinen had a peerless modernist pedigree. His father, Eliel Saarinen, was an eminent Finnish architect who in 1932 became the first head of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in suburban Detroit. The school became synonymous with progressive design and decorative arts in the United States, and while studying there the younger Saarinen met and befriended several luminaries of mid-century modernism, among them Harry Bertoia and Charles and Ray Eames.
At Cranbrook, Saarinen also met Florence Schust Knoll, who, as director of her husband Hans Knoll's eponymous furniture company, would put Saarinen’s best designs into production. These include the Grasshopper chair, designed in 1946 and so named because its angled bentwood frame resembles the insect; the Tulip chair (1957), a flower-shaped fiberglass shell mounted on a cast-aluminum pedestal; and the lushly contoured Womb lounge chair and ottoman (1948). In his furniture as in his architecture, the keynotes of Eero Saarinen’s designs are simplicity, strength and grace.
Find vintage Eero Saarinen tables, chairs and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Wargrave, United Kingdom
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- Platner Lounge Chair, designed 1966 by Warren Platner for Knoll InternationalBy Warren Platner, KnollLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireOriginal 1960s Platner Lounge Chair, designed 1966 by Warren Platner and manufactured by Knoll International. This iconic chair is made of moulded fibreglass covered in the original...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Hans Wegner for Johannes Hansen Reversible Top Coffee Table, SignedBy Hans J. WegnerLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireHans Wegner for Johannes Hansen, Denmark, 1950s. A reverse topped coffee table with oak frame, stamped by maker, and a top of teak on one side and black formica on the other . Exc...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
- Helge Vestergaard Jensen, Low Table, Model U55, Rosewood, Peder Pedersen LabelBy Peder Pedersen, Helge Vestergaard-JensenLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireHelge Vestergaard Jensen, low table, model U55, rosewood with rectangular top and Y-shaped legs, 1950s Manufacturers label for Peder Pedersen, Denmark 150cm wide, 50cm deep, 50...Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Scandinavian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsRosewood
- Campo Graffi 'Attr' Coffee Table, Glass Top over Ribbed Plywood SupportsBy Franco Campo & Carlo GraffiLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireMid Century coffee table, attributed to Franco Campo and Carlo Graffi, very much in their style , it could be School of Turin from the same period, mid...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Tapio Wirkkala, Rare Leaf Inlay Coffee Table for Asko, Finland, 1950s, BrandedBy Asko, Tapio WirkkalaLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireRare leaf inlay coffee table, designed by Tapio Wirkkala and manufactured by Asko, Finland, 1950s, branded Walnut with birch inlays, on adju...Category
Vintage 1950s Finnish Scandinavian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBirch, Walnut
- George Nakashima, Minguren II Walnut Coffee Table, Signed and Dated 1984By George Nakashima Studio, George NakashimaLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireGeorge Nakashima, Minguren II Coffee Table in Persian walnut and American black walnut, featuring a single slab top with burl detail and bark pockets signed and dated to underside 'G...Category
Vintage 1980s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- Tulip Oval Coffee Table in Marble by Eero Saarinen for Knoll InternationalBy Eero SaarinenLocated in Porto, PTTulip Oval Coffee Table in Marble by Eero Saarinen for Knoll International pedestal collection The marble top is 2cm thick; white laminate is...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMarble, Metal
- Eero Saarinen For Knoll International 35 Inch Tulip Coffee Table Rosewood 2009By Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Philadelphia, PAListed for sale is one Knoll 35 inch Tulip Coffee Table, designed by Eero Saarinen. This example has a white powder coated base with a gorgeous rosewood...Category
Early 2000s American Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsRosewood
- Eero Saarinen Tulip Dining Table Marble Knoll InternationalBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in Berlin, BEBeautiful tulip dining table with a beautiful marble top by the famous Designer Eero Saarinen.Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsMarble, Steel
- Coffee Table by Eero Saarinen for Knoll International, 1960sBy Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Lasne, BERound coffee table in white laminated wood by Eero Saarinen. Stamped under the leg (see photo). Wear due to time and age of the table.Category
Vintage 1960s Central American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Ta...
MaterialsMarble, Aluminum
- Vintage Marble Tulip coffee table by Eero Saarinen for Knoll, 1970sBy Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in ABCOUDE, UTNice vintage white marble tulip coffee table, designed by Eero Saarinen for Knoll International. This timeless design will instantly uplift a...Category
Vintage 1970s Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMarble, Metal
- Vintage Tulip Coffee Table by Eero Saarinen for KnollBy Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Brooklyn, NYA vintage coffee table by Eero Saarinen for Knoll with white tulip base and laminate top. This icon of mid-century modern design was acquired from the family of the original owner, w...Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMetal