Wheat Sheath Bamboo McGuire Furniture Coffee Table Base
View Similar Items
Wheat Sheath Bamboo McGuire Furniture Coffee Table Base
About the Item
- Creator:John and Elinor McGuire (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 16 in (40.64 cm)Diameter: 37 in (93.98 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1970-1979
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Plymouth, MA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU4473215072521
John and Elinor McGuire
Like so many artists and designers, husband and wife John McGuire (1920–2013) and Elinor Stevenson (1914–2005) became masters in their trade by accident. For the founders of McGuire Furniture Company, well, furniture wasn’t actually in the plans.
The couple met just before the start of World War II (during which John was in the U.S. Navy and Elinor was a navigation instructor) and got married after it ended. They settled down in San Francisco where John held a couple of jobs — among them selling newspaper ads for the San Francisco Examiner while Elinor worked for Boeing Aircraft. Soon, an old Navy buddy of John’s asked him to help sell a bunch of rattan furniture and, needing the money, John agreed. His side business became so successful that John decided to quit his ad-sales job and work full-time in design.
In 1948, McGuire Furniture Company was born. Alongside the mid-century modern furniture designs then gaining popularity in the United States, John introduced an unconventional idea: traditional armchairs, stools and tables made of natural materials such as bamboo, which was strong yet could be rendered pliable when steamed, that were intended for the indoors rather than the front porch.
The brand’s first success was the now famous Director’s X-Chair by Leonard Linden. The military-campaign-style solid oak folding chair launched in 1956 and saw rattan binded with rawhide strips and a high-grade leather slug seat and back that eliminated the need for a plush cushion. Elinor, too, designed some of the brand’s popular pieces, such as 1968’s Cracked Ice chair. With its rattan oval back a dazzling celebration of geometric forms that give it its charming moniker, the Cracked Ice chair was an instant classic and is one of the brand’s most recognizable designs.
Today, McGuire and another American furniture manufacturer, Baker Furniture Company, comprise Baker Interiors Group. McGuire remains true to the founders’ ideals and commitment to crafting the kind of organic modern furnishings that are synonymous with the warm and relaxed feel of California design. The company has collaborated with interior designers Steven Volpe, Orlando Diaz-Azcuy and Nicole Hollis, and, as of 2019, its luxury furnishings share a 16,500-square-foot showroom with Baker’s in San Francisco. Some of the earliest McGuire Furniture Company designs are part of the permanent collection at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City.
Find a wide range of vintage John and Elinor McGuire furniture on 1stDibs.
- Mcguire Sheaf of Wheat Bamboo Round Side End Coffee Tables a Pair 1970sBy John and Elinor McGuireLocated in North Hollywood, CALarge 1970s John Mcguire style sheaf of wheat bamboo round side or end, coffee tables. Pair of large coffee table gilt painted sheaf of bamboo wheat side, end, occasional tables roun...Category
Late 20th Century American Organic Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBamboo, Rattan, Reed
- Round Wheat Bamboo Sheaf Base Coffee Table Mid-Century Modern McGuireBy McGuireLocated in Rockaway, NJMid-Century Modern white wash finish bamboo sheaf base coffee table by McGuire.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Center Tables
MaterialsBamboo
- McGuire Style Sheaf of Wheat Bamboo Round Glass Coffee TableLocated in Philadelphia, PAMcGuire style sheaf of wheat bamboo 48" round glass coffee table. Item features round glass top, sheaf of wheat bamboo style round pedestal b...Category
Mid-20th Century Hollywood Regency Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWood, Glass
- Bamboo Base Glass Top Coffee Table by McGuireBy McGuireLocated in New York, NYChic, voguish style Hollywood Regency coffee table having a waited form faux bamboo base, circular plate glass top. The table is in very good original condition showing only light co...Category
Late 20th Century American Hollywood Regency Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBamboo, Glass
- McGuire Model 69 Rattan Coffee TableBy McGuire, John and Elinor McGuireLocated in Highland, INThis handsome early design by Elinor McGuire for her company McGuire of San Fransisco has a top and shelf supported by a rattan frame joined by McGuire's trademarked rawhide method. ...Category
Vintage 1950s American Organic Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsRattan, Formica
- Large Round Sheath of Bamboo Round Coffee Table Mid Century Modern McGuire MINT!By Ficks Reed, McGuireLocated in Rockaway, NJLarge Round Sheath of Bamboo Round Coffee Table Mid Century Modern McGuire MINT!Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBamboo