Pair of Maguire Round Reed & Cane Three Tier Gallery Top Serving Tables Stands
About the Item
- Creator:McGuire (Cabinetmaker)
- Similar to:Ficks Reed (Cabinetmaker)
- Dimensions:Height: 30 in (76.2 cm)Diameter: 25.5 in (64.77 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:c1970s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Rockaway, NJ
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU883735415032
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 range of McGuire Furniture on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: Hardwick, NJ
- Return Policy
More From This Seller
View All20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Serving Tables
Steel
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Serving Tables
Smoked Glass, Lucite
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
Brass
20th Century Hong Kong Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Bamboo, Cane
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Serving Tables
Brass
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Serving Tables
Walnut
You May Also Like
20th Century French Louis XVI Serving Tables
Bronze
Vintage 1980s American Modern Serving Tables
Bamboo
Antique Early 19th Century British Regency Serving Tables
Wood
Antique 1860s English Serving Tables
Brass
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Carts and Bar Carts
Wood
Late 20th Century American Organic Modern Serving Tables
Leather, Rattan, Oak
