Mid-Century Modern Eero Saarinen for Knoll Tulip Coffee Table with Walnut Top
About the Item
- Creator:Eero Saarinen (Designer),Knoll (Manufacturer)
- Design:Saarinen Pedestal TableSaarinen Pedestal Series
- Dimensions:Height: 15 in (38.1 cm)Diameter: 36 in (91.44 cm)
- 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:Philadelphia, PA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1273217412782
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Philadelphia, PA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Mid-Century Modern White Tulip Oval Cocktail Table by Eero Saarinen for KnollBy Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Philadelphia, PAAn iconic classic designed by Eero Saarinen and produced by Knoll. It features a white top with white base. Excellent overall condition. Manufactures stamp.Category
Early 2000s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsAluminum
- Authentic Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table by Warren Platner for Knoll in BronzeBy Warren Platner, KnollLocated in Philadelphia, PAAn iconic classic circular cocktail table designed by Warren Platner for Knoll. It features a dark bronze wire base with round clear glass top. Very nice condition.Category
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBronze
- Mid-Century Modern Bronze and Marble Rectangular Cocktail Table after KnollBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Philadelphia, PAAn incredibly heavy and well made coffee table in the manner of Florence Knoll. It features a solid bronze heavy frame with an inlaid Perlato marble.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMarble, Bronze
- Mid-Century Modern Rectangular Coffee Table in Walnut, Brass & Cane after McCobbLocated in Philadelphia, PAA simple line modern cocktail table in the style of Paul McCobb. It consists of walnut framing, brass plated base, and glass topped cane.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Mid-Century Modern Rectangular Cocktail Table in Walnut with Onyx MarbleLocated in Philadelphia, PAA lovely vintage table circa 1960s Heavy and well made. It features solid construction with inlaid onyx slabs. Clean and ready to use.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsOnyx
- Mid Century Modern Oval Travertine Marble Cocktail Table by Saarinen for KnollBy Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Philadelphia, PAEarly made oval coffee table designed by Eero Saarinen and produced by Knoll in the 60's. Excellent overall condition with beautiful beige travertine slab type and powder coated tuli...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsTravertine, Aluminum, Iron
- Eero Saarinen for Knoll Mid Century Tulip Walnut Coffee TableBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in Countryside, ILEero Saarinen for Knoll Mid Century Tulip Walnut Coffee Table This coffee table measures: 36 wide x 36 deep x 15.25 inches high All pieces of furniture can be had in what we call r...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Mid-Century Modern Knoll 3’ Round Tulip Coffee Table Walnut by Eero SaarinenBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in BROOKLYN, NYMid-Century Modern knoll 3’ round tulip coffee table walnut Laminate top. Base is heavy and has has original off white paint. Has original felt ring around base to protect the floor....Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Mid Century Modern Oval Tulip Coffee Table in Marble by Eero Saarinen for KnollBy Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Troy, MIIconic oval tulip coffee table designed by Eero Saarinen for Knoll in 1957 Sharp example in Arabescato with black tulip base Labeled to underside 42 inch width 28 inch depth 15 in...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Coc...
MaterialsMarble, Aluminum
- Vintage Tulip Coffee Table by Eero Saarinen for KnollBy Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Brooklyn, NYA vintage coffee table by Eero Saarinen for Knoll with white tulip base and laminate top. This icon of mid-century modern design was acquired from the family of the original owner, w...Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Eero Saarinen Tulip Coffee Table for KnollBy Eero SaarinenLocated in Cincinnati, OHA sculptural white tulip coffee table with steel base and Laminate top by designer , architect and artist Eero Saarinen . This iconic table ha...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Eero Saarinen Coffee Table for Knoll, Walnut, 1970sBy Eero Saarinen, KnollLocated in Round Rock, TXAn iconic design from an iconic designer. Eero Saarinen designed coffee table for Knoll International. This particular table was made in the 1970s. Featuring a nicely figured w...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsAluminum, Steel