Florence Knoll Credenza / Sideboard Original Calacatta Marble Top 1961
View Similar Items
Florence Knoll Credenza / Sideboard Original Calacatta Marble Top 1961
About the Item
- Creator:Florence Knoll (Designer),Knoll (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 25.5 in (64.77 cm)Width: 112 in (284.48 cm)Depth: 18 in (45.72 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1961
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. The credenza is in excellent vintage condition very minor wear on the marble edges as shown in the photos.
- Seller Location:Camden, ME
- Reference Number:Seller: App 6791stDibs: LU898415770242
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 polished, efficient design and skillfully realized office plans.
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. Her main work came as head of the Knoll Planning Group, designing custom office interiors for clients such as IBM and CBS. The furniture Florence 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.
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.
- Edward Wormley Sideboard Model 671 A for Dunbar Custom Order 1953By Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Camden, MEAn Edward Wormley walnut and Japanese fir sideboard , model 671A for Dunbar, circa 1953. A rare exquisite Japanese inspired walnut cabinet with two drawers with cast bronze pulls and...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
MaterialsPaper, Walnut
- Frank Lloyd Wright Dresser Sideboard Taliesin Heritage Henredon, circa 1955By Frank Lloyd Wright, Heritage-HenredonLocated in Camden, MEBeautiful mahogany sideboard / china closet designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Heritage Henredon in 1955 as part of his Taliesin line. The right upper corner drawer...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
MaterialsGlass, Mahogany
- Vittorio Dassi Sideboard Hexagon Glass Shelves La Permanente Mobili Cantu 1950sBy Vittorio Dassi, La Permanente Mobili CantùLocated in Camden, MEA very rare and sophisticated sideboard by Vittorio Dassi stamped Permanente Mobili Cantu Italy from the 1950s consisting of four suspended cabinets, three of which have locking doors, the fourth has drawers with raised hexagonal pulls. Each cabinet has a chamfered top of a beautifully grained Italian walnut shaped in a distinctive diamond cut. This contrasts with more tightly grained fronts and side panels of the cabinets Above each cabinet is set a hexagonal glass shelf resting inset on brass supports detailed in a flat black lacquer and polished brass attached to the ends of tapering flat pillars of Italian walnut. The interiors of three of the four cabinets are finished in an aged off-white glazed birch with adjustable glass shelving. There are ten polished threaded bronze discs that are held in cast bronze hexagonal housings that allow the sideboard to adjust to uneven or stone flooring. The bronze bases are also accented in flat black lacquer. La Permanente Mobili Cantu was considered one of Italy's top cabinet makers and the cabinet work in this sideboard attests to how beautifully they executed their pieces. The metric measurements...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
MaterialsBronze
- Edmond Spence Mahogany Sideboard Woven Sea Grass Faced Doors Industrial MuebleraBy Edmond J. Spence, Industria Mueblera MexicoLocated in Camden, METhis mahogany cabinet is an elegant example of Edmund Spence's integration of traditional Mexican craft with Mid-Century Modern styling. Designed for the Mexican manufacturer "Indus...Category
Vintage 1950s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
MaterialsSeagrass, Hardwood, Mahogany
- Elegant Maple and Burl Wood CredenzaLocated in Camden, MECredenza or buffet from the 1960s. Maple cabinet with bookmatched burl-wood faced doors across the base and two faux-ivory embossed accordion doors enclose 2/3 of the upper case. The...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
MaterialsBrass
- Paul McCobb Eight-Drawer Dresser Marble Top for Calvin Furniture, 1950sBy Calvin Furniture, Paul McCobbLocated in Camden, MEPaul McCobb eight-drawer walnut dresser is part of McCobb's Irwin line manufactured by Calvin Furniture of Grand Rapids during the 1950s. The cabinet has 2 folding doors of three pa...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Dressers
MaterialsMarble
- Florence Knoll Rosewood and Marble Credenza or Sideboard, 1960sBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Dallas, TXFlorence Knoll's iconic sideboard/credenza in rosewood with marble top. The sideboard features 4 bays with internal shelving in one bay and file drawers and smaller drawers in three ...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
MaterialsMarble, Steel
- Vintage Calacatta Marble and Rosewood Florence Knoll CredenzaBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Miami, FLA vintage and timeless rosewood credenza with original white Calacatta marble top on chrome legs with chromed pulls and finished back. A very versatile piece, perfect for any home or...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- Florence Knoll CredenzaBy Florence KnollLocated in Los Angeles, CAFlorence knoll credenza in oak and marble, USA, 1961.Category
Vintage 1960s American Credenzas
MaterialsMarble
Price Upon Request - Exclusive Credenza with Refrigerator and Marble Top, by Florence Knoll, 1961By Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Schagen, NLWhen Florence Knoll transformed the traditional private office configuration by replacing the executive desk with a table, she needed to provide an alternative to the lost storage sp...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Credenzas
MaterialsMarble, Steel
- Rare Sideboard No.119 by Florence KnollBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Munich, DEIn my opinion the nicest sideboard of Florence Knoll. wonderful clear lines and a elegant touch. does have a real back and can be used as room divider.Category
Vintage 1960s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
MaterialsTeak
- 2006 Florence Knoll 4 Position Credenza in Oak Calacatta Marble Top Model 2544By Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Philadelphia, PAThis is a '4-Position' Credenza, model 2544, initially designed by Florence Knoll in 1961. This particular example dates to 2006. The piece is constructed of rich ebonized oak, and f...Category
Early 2000s American Modern Credenzas
MaterialsMarble, Steel
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.