Original Saarinen Knoll Studio Marble Tulip Dining Table and Bertoia Wire Chairs
View Similar Items
Original Saarinen Knoll Studio Marble Tulip Dining Table and Bertoia Wire Chairs
About the Item
- Creator:Eero Saarinen (Designer),Knoll (Maker)
- Design:Saarinen Pedestal TableSaarinen Pedestal Series
- Dimensions:Height: 28.35 in (72 cm)Diameter: 35.83 in (91 cm)Seat Height: 17.72 in (45 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 5
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1971
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Highclere, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU4278221334382
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.
- White Knoll, Saarinen Calacatta marble tulip dining table with 4 matching chairsBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in Highclere, NewburyAn iconic vintage Eero Saarinen, Knoll white tulip dining set with a Calacatta marble top and 4 matching Saarinen, Knoll vintage tulip chairs with...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Sets
MaterialsMarble, Aluminum
- Frank Gehry Knoll Int. Dinette Featuring 2 Cross Check Chairs and Dining TableBy Frank GehryLocated in Highclere, NewburyA Frank Gehry compact dining set featuring 2 bentwood maple ply Cross Check chairs matched to a maple and glass Face Off dining table manufactured by Knoll International. Originally designed in the late 80’s Gehry’s Cross Check chairs...Category
1990s American Post-Modern Dining Room Sets
MaterialsGlass, Beech
- 8 Danish Mid Century Arne Hovmand Olsen Teak and Fabric Dining ChairsBy Arne Hovmand-OlsenLocated in Highclere, NewburyA set of eight mid century dark stained teak and fabric rail back dining chairs designed by Arne Hovmand Olsen and produced by Mogens Kold. These Olsen chairs are a classic desig...Category
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Teak
- 4 vintage Eero Saarininen Knoll Inc. Executive armchairs with an oak frame baseBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in Highclere, NewburyA classic set of 4 vintage Eero Saarininen Knoll Inc. executive armchairs in the original Knoll blue fabric with an oak frame base. The Eero Saarinen Executive armchair was featured in nearly every Florence Knoll Mid Century interior throughout the 1950s and beyond. Originally introduced in 1950, the chair transformed the notion of what executive seating could be with its fluid, sculptural form and modern finishing. The timeless and versatile design continues to fit seamlessly into work, conference, lounge and dining applications of any décor. The chair remains as one of the most popular Knoll designs ever with new versions of the armchair, as shown here, in fabric with the wooden light oak base retailing at around £2,000 per chair. And it’s the wooden legs that add to their appeal and was ultimately a big improvement on the original tubular steel frame. They are just warmer and more welcoming, as well as being more aesthetically pleasing. As such the chairs are more often used these days as dining chairs rather than in the office. The chairs are also supremely comfortable and are upholstered in a classic Knoll wool fabric that has different subtle colour flecks within the fabric and that also features a slightly darker colour in the seat. This is an intentional design aesthetic as it helps to maintain the condition and look of the seat with heavier use. They date from the 1990s and remain in very good vintage condition with only light signs of use. This item is sold as a set of 4 chairs but the chairs are also available as a complete dining set matched with a Florence Knoll Walnut table...Category
1990s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsWool, Oak
- 4 Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Knoll, MR50 BRNO tubular chrome dining chairsBy Knoll, Ludwig Mies van der RoheLocated in Highclere, NewburyA set of 4 vintage Mies van der Rohe Knoll, MR50 BRNO tubular chrome and black fabric dining chairs. The price listed is for the 4 chairs as shown. Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe at his Tugendhat House in Brno, Czech Republic, the Brno Chair (model number MR50) reflects the ground breaking simplicity of van der Rohe’s design using a simple cantilever frame. There are two versions of the chair; one in tubular steel and the other in flat steel and the original design dates back to 1930. The metal was originally polished stainless steel but more modern examples from around the 1970s onwards were produced in chromed steel by Knoll International and Knoll Studio who have owned the license to the design since the mid 1960s. There have been numerous copies of the chairs made since their inception but the Knoll original chairs that were produced in the last 30 years have become much easier to recognise. As such, all post 1990 chairs...Category
1990s Italian Bauhaus Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsChrome
- Large 10 Seat Contemporary Dining Set with Bespoke Macassar Table and 10 ChairsLocated in Highclere, NewburyA truly exceptional bespoke 10 seat dining set featuring an angle framed Macassar table with framed leg insets matched to 10 Decorus of London bes...Category
Early 2000s British Modern Dining Room Sets
MaterialsLeather, Macassar
- Knoll Marble Dining Table With 5 Chairs by Eero Saarinen, 1960sBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in Oud Beijerland, NLMagnificent and fully original Tulip dining set designed by Eero Saarinen. It is produced by Knoll International in the 1960s. The set consists of 5 original tulip chairs and the o...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsCarrara Marble, Metal
- Eero Saarinen for Knoll Tulip Dining Table & ChairsBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in London, GBA stylish and iconic design, this tulip dining table and four matching swivel dining chairs were designed by Eero Saarinen for Knoll in the 1950’s. This example is from the 50th a...Category
Early 2000s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Sets
MaterialsMetal
- Knoll Tulip Dining Set by Eero Saarinen 1960s Large Marble Table ArmchairsBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in Ijzendijke, NLMagnificent fully original tulip dining set designed by Eero Saarinen and produced by Knoll International in the 1960s. The set consists of 6 original marked tulip armchairs and the ...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Sets
MaterialsCarrara Marble, Aluminum
- 1960s Eero Saarinen for Knoll Tulip Dining Table & Four White Tulip Side ChairsBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in Philadelphia, PAListed for sale is a gorgeous 1960s vintage Tulip dining table and chair set, designed by Eero Saarinen and produced by Knoll. The set ca...Category
Vintage 1960s American Modern Dining Room Sets
MaterialsAluminum
- Midcentury Tulip Dining Table Set Styled After Eero SaarinenBy Eero SaarinenLocated in North Hollywood, CAMidcentury tulip dining table styled after Eero Saarinen; This beautiful set is just so unique and amazing dining set. It features four...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Eero Saarinen Tulip Oval Carrara Arabescato Marble Tulip Table for Knoll, 1967By Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Vicenza, ITTulip oval dining table designed by Eero Saarinen in 1957 and manufactured by Knoll in 1967. Composed of a white lacquered pedestal and a tabletop made of ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Space Age Dining Room Tables
MaterialsCarrara Marble