Saarinen for Knoll Tulip Table
View Similar Items
Saarinen for Knoll Tulip Table
About the Item
- Creator:Eero Saarinen (Designer)
- Design:Saarinen Pedestal TableSaarinen Pedestal Series
- Dimensions:Height: 20.5 in (52.07 cm)Width: 15 in (38.1 cm)Depth: 22.5 in (57.15 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960-1970's
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Cosmetic wear normal and consistent with age.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU97871610202
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.
- Saarinen Knoll Tulip TableBy Eero SaarinenLocated in New York, NYEarly Knoll Saarinen tulip table, cast iron base, oval laminate top. Minor cosmetic wear, normal and consistent with age.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsIron
- Saarinen for Knoll Tulip Side Table 320 Park Ave c 1960'sBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in New York, NYIconic Knoll side table, know as a Tulip Table, this classic form is quintessential Saarinen design. The table features an oval white laminate top, on the signature elongated sculptu...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Saarinen for Knoll Pedestal Dining TableBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in New York, NYNice early Saarinen design for Knoll tulip dining table. This example has the 575 Madison Ave Knoll address, it is in very good original condition, showing only light cosmetic wear, ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Wormley for Dunbar Cantilevered End TableBy Dunbar Furniture, Edward WormleyLocated in New York, NYCantilevered end table by Wormley for Dunbar. Original condition, and finish.We have separately listed the other end table, and matching coffee ta...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
- Robsjohn Gibbings for Widdicomb Step End Table as isBy T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Widdicomb Furniture Co.Located in New York, NYArchitectural mid-century step end table designed by Robsjohn - Gibbings, manufactured by Widdicomb. This example is selling as is and as found, please see image...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsMahogany
- Nelson Style Frank and Sons Step End Table for ArbuckBy George Nelson, Frank & SonLocated in New York, NYArchitectural design wrought iron step end table by Frank and Sons for Arbuck, after George Nelson. Unusual white table surfaces create a dramatic and g...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsWrought Iron
- White Saarinen Tulip Side Table for Knoll, Rare Low Profile, SignedBy Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Grand Cayman, KYRare low form of the iconic tulip pedestal table by Eero Saarinen for Knoll International. Good vintage condition. Signed.Category
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsAluminum
- Eero Saarinen for Knoll Style Mid-Century Oval Tulip Tables, a PairBy Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Countryside, ILEero Saarinen for Knoll style mid-century oval tulip tables - a pair Each table measures: 23 wide x 15.25 deep x 20 inches high. All pieces of furniture can be had in what we c...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Eero Saarinen for Knoll Mid Century Tulip Side End Tables - PairBy Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Countryside, ILEero Saarinen for Knoll Mid Century Tulip Side End Tables - Pair Each table measures: 20 wide x 20 deep x 20.5 inches high All pieces of furniture can be had in what we call restor...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsFiberglass
- Figured Walnut Saarinen Tulip Side Table for Knoll International, Early 1960sBy Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Grand Cayman, KYIconic tulip pedestal table by Eero Saarinen for Knoll International. Early edition, likely from the 1960. It consists of a cast aluminum base with original white vinyl wrap. The mak...Category
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsAluminum
- Pair of Knoll Saarinen Oval Walnut Tulip Side End Tables Stands Mint!By Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Rockaway, NJPair of Knoll Saarinen oval walnut tulip side end tables stands mint!Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern End Tables
MaterialsAluminum
- Marble Top Tulip Saarinen Style Side TableBy Florence Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Port Jervis, NYFabulous and in excellent vintage condition with minimal wear. Measures 20.5 diameter with a height of 20 inch makes this a great side table with num...Category
Vintage 1980s American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsCarrara Marble, Enamel, Steel