Florence Knoll Parallele Bar Teak Cocktail Table
View Similar Items
Florence Knoll Parallele Bar Teak Cocktail Table
About the Item
- Creator:Florence Knoll (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 15.25 in (38.74 cm)Diameter: 42 in (106.68 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1955
- Condition:
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU80458273163
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 Circular Parallel Bar Cocktail / Coffee TableBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in New York, NYAmerican Mid-Century 'Parallel Bar' cocktail / coffee table with a circular walnut top supported by three satin chrome-plated steel legs. (Florence Knoll).Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMetal, Steel, Chrome
- Florence Knoll T-Bar Walnut Laminate Coffee / Cocktail TableBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in New York, NYAmerican Mid-Century rectangular coffee / cocktail table with a walnut laminate top in three sections supported on a T-shaped black metal base. (FLORENCE KNOLL)(Similar table: DUF0082).Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Florence Knoll T-Bar Coffee TableBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in Kalamazoo, MIThis Florence Knoll T-Bar Coffee Table was designed for Knoll International in the 1960s. Its base is crafted from steel, and it boasts a Formica top that is in good shape for its ag...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Mid Century Florence Knoll Square Coffee Table in WalnutBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in Detroit, MIThis vintage Mid-Century Modern Florence Knoll for Knoll Associates, Inc. square wood coffee table is circa 1960 and features a walnut wood top on a steel frame. This iconic table is a mid century modern classic and exemplifies the clean, minimalist design of the period pairing well with a wide selection of design styles from classic mid century modern to contemporary. Original Knoll Associates, Inc. label on underside. Please reach out to us with any questions about this item or for further clarification of shipping options by clicking on the “Ask the Seller...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Florence Knoll Round Low Table in White Marble and Metal by Knoll 1950s ItalyBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in Montecatini Terme, ITLow table with a round-shaped table top in white marble and four metal legs from the Parallel Bar series, designed by Florence Knoll and manufactured by Knoll International during the 1950s. Born to a baker, and orphaned at age twelve, Florence Schust grew up in Saginaw, Michigan. Schust demonstrated an early interest in architecture and was enrolled at the Kingswood School for Girls, adjacent to the Cranbrook Academy of Art. While at Kingswood, Florence befriended Eilel Saarinen, whom she would later study under at Cranbrook. Warmly embraced by the Saarinen family, Florence vacationed with them in Finland, enjoyed the company of their accomplished friends, and formed a very close relationship with Eliel’s son, Eero. The connections she made and the skills she developed while at Cranbrook were the foundations of Florence Schust’s incredible design education and pioneering career. With recommendations from Eliel Saarinen and Alvar Aalto, Florence went on to study under some of the greatest 20th century architects, including Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe at the Illinois Institute of Technology. In 1941 Florence moved to New York where she met Hans Knoll who was establishing his furniture company. With Florence’s design skills and Hans’ business acumen and salesmanship, the pair, who married in 1946, grew the nascent company into an international arbiter of style and design. Florence also seeded contributions with her friends Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, and Mies van der Rohe. In creating the revolutionary Knoll Planning Unit, Florence Knoll defined the standard for the modern corporate interiors of post-war America. Drawing on her background in architecture, she introduced modern notions of efficiency, space planning, and comprehensive design to office planning. Florence ardently maintained that she did not merely decorate space. She created it. The Planning Unit rigorously researched and surveyed each client — assessing their needs, defining patterns of use and understanding company hierarchies — before presenting a comprehensive design, informed by the principles of modernism and beautifully executed in signature Knoll style. Florence and the Planning Unit were responsible for the interiors of some of America’s largest corporations, including IBM, GM and CBS. As part of her work with the Planning Unit, Florence frequently contributed furniture designs to the Knoll catalog...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMarble, Metal
- Florence Knoll Coffee Table in Glass and Chrome, USA, 1970sBy Florence KnollLocated in Amsterdam, NLThis coffee table was designed by the famous American designer Florence Knoll (1917-2019). Florence Knoll was based in the U.S. with the design agency 'Knoll International'. The tabl...Category
Vintage 1970s North American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsChrome
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.