Florence Knoll Solid Chromed Steel Tables with Floating Walnut Laminate Tops
About the Item
- Creator:Knoll (Manufacturer),Florence Knoll (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 17 in (43.18 cm)Width: 24 in (60.96 cm)Depth: 24 in (60.96 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1970s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:BROOKLYN, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1793233923412
Florence Knoll
Architect, furniture designer, interior designer, entrepreneur — Florence Knoll had a subtle but profound influence on the course of mid-century American modernism. Dedicated to functionality and organization, and never flamboyant, Knoll shaped the ethos of the postwar business world with her skillfully realized office plans and polished, efficient designs for sofas, credenzas, desks and other furnishings.
Knoll had perhaps the most thorough design education of any of her peers. Florence Schust was orphaned at age 12, and her guardian sent her to Kingswood, a girl’s boarding school that is part of the Cranbrook Educational Community in suburban Detroit. Her interest in design brought her to the attention of Eliel Saarinen, the Finnish architect and head of the Cranbrook Academy of Art.
Saarinen and his wife took the talented child under their wing, and she became close to their son, the future architect Eero Saarinen. While a student at the academy, Florence befriended artist-designer Harry Bertoia and Charles and Ray Eames. Later, she studied under three of the Bauhaus masters who emigrated to the United States. She worked as an apprentice in the Boston architectural offices of Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer; Ludwig Mies van der Rohe taught her at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
In 1941, she met Hans Knoll, whose eponymous furniture company was just getting off the ground. They married in 1946, and her design sense and his business skills soon made Knoll Inc. a leading firm in its field. Florence signed up the younger Saarinen as a designer, and would develop pieces by Bertoia, Mies and the artist Isamu Noguchi.
Florence Knoll's main work came as head of the Knoll Planning Group, designing custom office interiors for clients such as IBM and CBS. The furniture she created for these spaces reflects her Bauhaus training: the pieces are pure functional design, exactingly built; their only ornament from the materials, such as wood and marble. Her innovations — the oval conference table, for example, conceived as a way to ensure clear sightlines among all seated at a meeting — were always in the service of practicality.
Since her retirement in 1965, Knoll received the National Medal of Arts, among other awards; in 2004 the Philadelphia Museum of Art mounted the exhibition “Florence Knoll: Defining Modern” — well deserved accolades for a strong, successful design and business pioneer. As demonstrated on these pages, the simplicity of Knoll’s furniture is her work’s great virtue: they fit into any interior design scheme.
Find vintage Florence Knoll sofas, benches, armchairs and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Knoll
As a company that produced many of the most famous and iconic furniture designs of the 20th century, Knoll was a chief influence in the rise of modern design in the United States. Led by Florence Knoll, the firm would draw stellar talents such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Eero Saarinen into its compass. Their work would help change the face of the American home and office.
The company was formed in 1938 by the German immigrant Hans Knoll. He first worked with his fellow ex-pat, the Danish designer Jens Risom, who created furniture with flowing lines made of wood. While Risom served in World War II, in 1943 Knoll met his future wife, Florence Schust. She had studied and worked with eminent emigré leaders of the Bauhaus, including Mies, Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. She won Knoll over with Bauhaus notions of industrial arts, and an aesthetic that featured flat and tubular metal frames and angular forms. When Hans died in a car crash in 1955, Florence Knoll was appointed head of the company. It was as much through her holistic approach to design — a core division of the firm was dedicated to planning office systems — as Knoll's mid-century modern furnishings themselves that she brought about the sleek and efficient transformation of the American workplace.
Today, classic Knoll furnishings remain staples of modern design collections and decor. A history of modern design is written in pieces such as the elegant Barcelona chair — created by Mies and Lilly Reich — Saarinen’s pedestal Tulip chair, Breuer’s tubular steel Wassily lounge chair and the grid-patterned Diamond chair by Harry Bertoia.
As you can see from the collection of these designs and other vintage Knoll dining chairs, sofas and tables on 1stDibs, this manufacturer's offerings have become timeless emblems of the progressive spirit and sleek sophistication of the best of modernism.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: BROOKLYN, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- Rare Midcentury Marble Table Florence KnollBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in BROOKLYN, NYNice round table with brushed chromed or nickel base. Rarely seen round table with great dimensions that could also be used as a small coffee table. Marble is original and shows s...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsMarble, Chrome, Nickel
- Pair Mid-Century Walnut with white laminate Top Nightstands by Florence KnollBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in BROOKLYN, NYPair of beautiful Florence knoll single drawer nightstands or side tables. Walnut single drawer nightstands with clean white laminate tops. Solid Oak drawers with single white divide...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Night Stands
MaterialsWalnut, Laminate, Oak
- Mid-Century Modern Knoll oval Tulip Coffee Table white laminate by Eero SaarinenBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in BROOKLYN, NYMid-Century Modern knoll oval tulip coffee table white Laminate top. Base is very heavy and has has original off white paint. Has original threaded center for base. Numbered on base....Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Mid-Century Modern cube Square tan Laminate floating Coffee TableBy Milo BaughmanLocated in BROOKLYN, NYA Mid-Century Modern cube square tan laminate floating coffee table. The table is in great original vintage condition High quality satin tan Lam...Category
Vintage 1980s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsLaminate, Plywood
- Beautiful Mid-Century Navy Leather Bench Chrome Frame Style of Florence KnollBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in BROOKLYN, NYBeautiful Mid-Century Modern navy blue leather bench chrome frame style of Florence Knoll. Very clean 1960s bench. Made in USA. Very High Quality co...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsChrome
- Custom and Monumental Florence Knoll Bench or Coffee TableBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in BROOKLYN, NYCustom unique Florence Knoll bench for Knoll is black leather and chrome frame. Amazing opportunity to own a one of a kind piece. This bench can also make a great soft ottoman.Category
Early 2000s American Mid-Century Modern Benches
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- Florence Knoll Square Walnut Coffee TableBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Los Angeles, CADesigned by Florence Knoll in the 1950s, this simple coffee table has four square legs of chromed steel. The square tabletop sits flush with the frame and is made of a walnut veneer....Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsChrome
- Florence Knoll Coffee / Side Table with Laminate Top And Stainless Steel BaseBy Florence KnollLocated in Antwerpen, AntwerpEarly Florence Knoll T-angle side table, produced by Knoll in 1952. The table has a original white laminate top and a stainless steel base. A nice example of classic modernist design...Category
Vintage 1950s Unknown Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Florence Knoll Coffee TableBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Dronten, NLFlorence Knoll for Knoll International coffee table in white enameled steel and black laminate. Signed with decal manufacturer's label to underside. Literature: Knoll Furniture: 193...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Florence Knoll T-Bar Walnut Laminate Coffee / Cocktail TableBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in New York, NYAmerican Mid-Century rectangular coffee / cocktail table with a walnut laminate top in three sections supported on a T-shaped black metal base. (FLORENCE KNOLL)(Similar table: DUF0082).Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Florence Knoll T-Bar Coffee TableBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in Kalamazoo, MIThis Florence Knoll T-Bar Coffee Table was designed for Knoll International in the 1960s. Its base is crafted from steel, and it boasts a Formica top that is in good shape for its ag...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsSteel
- 1950s Florence Knoll Coffee Table in Walnut and Chrome SteelBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Madrid, ESCenter or coffee table designed by Florence Knoll for Knoll international in Walnut wood and Chrome Steel. Excellent vintage condition with slight signs of use, United States, 1950’s...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Center Tables
MaterialsSteel
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
10 Trailblazing Female Designers
From pioneering visionaries to contemporary talents, get to know some of the most important women in design.
Remembering Design Visionary Florence Knoll Bassett (1917-2019)
A loving look back at the life and career of a doyenne of mid-century-modern style, who died last week at the age of 101.