Very Rare No. 401 Coffee Table by Harry Bertoia for Knoll International
About the Item
- Creator:Harry Bertoia (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 17.72 in (45 cm)Diameter: 39.38 in (100 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1955
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Minor losses. Minor fading.
- Seller Location:Munich, DE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU100505570363
Harry Bertoia
Sculptor, furniture and jewelry designer, graphic artist and metalsmith, Harry Bertoia was one of the great cross-disciplinarians of 20th-century art and design and a central figure in American modernism. Among furniture aficionados he is known for the wire-lattice Diamond chair (and its variants such as the tall-backed Bird chair) designed for Knoll Inc. and first released in 1952. As an artist, Bertoia is revered for a style that was his alone. Bertoia’s metal sculptures are by turns expressive and austere, powerful and subtle, intimate in scale and monumental. All embody a tension between the intricacy and precision of Bertoia’s forms and the raw strength of his materials: steel, brass, bronze and copper.
Fortune seemed to guide Bertoia’s artistic development. Born in northeastern Italy, Bertoia immigrated to the United States at age 15, joining an older brother in Detroit. He studied drawing and metalworking in the gifted student program at Cass Technical High School. Recognition led to awards that culminated, in 1937, in a teaching scholarship to attend the Cranbrook Academy of Art in suburban Bloomfield Hills, one of the great crucibles of modernism in America. There, Bertoia made friendships — with architect Eero Saarinen, designers Charles and Ray Eames and Florence Schust Knoll and others — that shaped the course of his life. He taught metalworking at Cranbrook, and when materials rationing during World War II limited the availability of metals, Bertoia focused on jewelry design. He also experimented with monotype printmaking, and 19 of his earliest efforts were bought by the Guggenheim Museum.
In 1943, he left Cranbrook to work in California with the Eameses, helping them develop their now-famed plywood furniture. (Bertoia received scant credit.) Late in that decade, Florence and Hans Knoll persuaded him to move east and join Knoll Inc. His chairs became, and remain, perennial bestsellers. Royalties allowed Bertoia to devote himself full-time to metal sculpture, a medium he began to explore in earnest in 1947.
By the early 1950s Bertoia was receiving commissions for large-scale works from architects — the first came via Saarinen — as he refined his aesthetic vocabulary into two distinct skeins. One comprises his “sounding sculptures” — gongs and “Sonambient” groupings of rods that strike together and chime when touched by hand or by the wind. The other genre encompasses Bertoia’s naturalistic works: abstract sculptures that suggest bushes, flower petals, leaves, dandelions or sprays of grass. As you will see on these pages, Harry Bertoia was truly unique; his art and designs manifest a wholly singular combination of delicacy and strength.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Munich, Germany
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- Unique Richard Schultz Coffee Table for Knoll InternationalBy Richard SchultzLocated in Munich, DEI never saw this model before not in real life and not in any Knoll catalog. Tabletop is teakwood.Category
Vintage 1950s German Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsTeak
- Very Rare Harry Bertoia Monoprint on Rice PaperBy Harry BertoiaLocated in Munich, DEPurchased at la modern around 20 years ago. It´s the size of the work - not the frame.Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Prints
MaterialsPaper
- Very Rare Harry Bertoia Monoprint on Rice PaperBy Harry BertoiaLocated in Munich, DEPurchased at la modern around 20 years ago. Size is of the visible picture inside passe-partout.Category
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Prints
MaterialsPaint
- Rare No. 48 Armchair by Knoll InternationalBy Franco AlbiniLocated in Munich, DEDesigned by Franco Albini and made by Knoll International.Category
Vintage 1950s German Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsWood
- Very Rare Maison Charles Directoire Coffee TableBy Maison CharlesLocated in Munich, DEelegant maison charles coffe table. we can offer a few different pieces of the directoire range.Category
Vintage 1970s Hollywood Regency Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMetal, Brass
- Very Rare Maison Charles Directoire Coffee TableBy Maison CharlesLocated in Munich, DEVery rare pieces of furniture in very good condition. Steel and brass. we can offer a few different pieces of the directoire range.Category
Antique Early 1600s French Hollywood Regency Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Beautiful Midcentury Slat Bench by Harry Bertoia for Knoll, USA, 1950sBy Knoll, Harry BertoiaLocated in Vienna, ATA beautiful modernist ashwood slat bench with an iron base from the 1950s. Designed by Harry Bertoia for Knoll. Restored, in very good condition. The bench also makes a great coffee ...Category
Mid-20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsIron
- T Angle Coffee Table by Florence Knoll for Knoll International 1950sLocated in Rosendahl, DEEarly edition T Angle coffee table by Florence Knoll for Knoll International. Beautiful condition. The table still has the original creme colored ru...Category
Mid-20th Century Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsSteel
- 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
- Walnut Coffee Table by Lewis Butler for Knoll InternationalBy Lewis Butler for KnollLocated in Cincinnati, OHA very well crafted walnut coffee with wonderful graining to the top surface, set back upper stretchers give the table top a floating affect. Designed by Lewis Butler and manufacture...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- Rare Florence Knoll T-Angle Coffee Table in Birch; Knoll International c. 1960'sBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Norwalk, CTIntroducing the epitome of Mid-Century Modern sophistication: the No. 306 coffee cable, a true testament to iconic design brought to life by the visionary Florence Knoll and presente...Category
Vintage 1960s Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMetal
- 'Petal' Coffee Table by Richard Schultz for Knoll International, 1960By Knoll, Richard SchultzLocated in Los Angeles, CAThis early production 'Petal' coffee table by Richard Schultz for Knoll International, designed in 1960, is a favorite amongst Mid-Century Modern collectors and enthusiasts. Schultz ...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMetal