Pace dining table with patinated brass legs and glass top, USA, c1970s/80s.
"The Pace Collection" was a luxury, top-end furniture company founded by Irving and Leon Rosen in New York City in the early 1970s and traded for almost three decades until 2001.
Their first showroom was located on East 62nd Street in Manhattan and was aimed primarily at the interior design trade. The Pace line of furniture had a distinct style using exotic wood veneers and high-gloss finishes, often with polished and chrome plated trim.
In 1985, the Rosens commissioned New York architect Steven Holl to design a new showroom. The showroom, located on the corner of Madison Avenue and East 72nd Street, opened the following year with Holl receiving the American Institute of Architects (AIA) award for best architectural design in New York in 1986 for this Pace commission.
Many of the Rosens designs, including desks, tables and cabinets were hand-made by Glendale Furniture, Inc. of Glendale, New York. The pieces were then shipped to The Pace warehouse in Long Island City where they were kept until such time that an order was received from an interior designer or architect. The Pace pieces were essentially custom-made to order and not mass produced with the actual production figures known only to the Rosens. Evidence of the hand-made nature is evident in this table by the slightly offset position of the legs.
The prices of these, often bespoke, pieces clearly reflected the craftsmanship involved and the limited production.
