Jay Spectre for Brown Jordan Dark Blue Enamel Metal Dining Table

From arranging window displays as a teenager to securing a preeminent position in the decorating and design sphere, Jay Spectre had an extraordinary career. He drew on a range of influences for his lounge chairs, chests of drawers and coffee tables of the 1970s and ‘80s, and is best known for these furnishings as well as his interiors of the era.

For his eponymous Manhattan firm, Spectre created modern, delectable interiors for luxury homes, private aircraft, yachts and offices — his clientele included corporations and affluent figures all over the world — and for his sophisticated furnishings and decor, he found inspiration in Art Deco as well as in Asian and African art..

Spectre’s career in design began modestly — he worked as a window dresser in his Kentucky hometown. He had big plans, however, and moved to New York City, where he would establish the Jay Spectre Inc. design firm. During interviews in the years that followed, Spectre spoke highly of Hollywood glamour and its impact on his work. He was interested in the forces of modernism and technology, and was greatly inspired by the Art Deco era, which was brought to global attention at a large decorative arts exhibition held in Paris in 1925. The movement’s textile designers integrated floral motifs and vivid colors into their works, while Art Deco furniture makers were fond of dark woods, modern metals and decorative embellishments such as exotic animal hides.

In 1985, in order to grant large manufacturers the rights to produce Spectre’s furniture designs, he formed a licensing firm called J.S.P.S. Inc. with South African-born interior designer Geoffrey Bradfield. This was the era that brought Spectre recognition, awards, and numerous high-profile clients that the designer called “silent celebrities” (they deeply valued their privacy).

Spectre also created furniture that was aimed at younger consumers and intended to be affordable. He introduced an Art Deco–informed spirit at North Carolina’s Century Furniture — a brand that is known to vintage mid-century modern furniture collectors — where he created oversize, inviting lounge chairs and bentwood benches that featured plush tufted leather cushions. Spectre’s Eclipse collection was at one point among the largest-selling lines for the brand.

Spectre was named one of the top eight designers in America by the Smithsonian Institution for their "Giants of Design 1979" exhibition. He earned a pair of awards from the Chicago Merchandise Mart in 1982 and 1983, and was inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame in 1986.

Find vintage Jay Spectre seating, tables and decorative objects on 1stDibs.

Pioneers of furniture designed especially for the outdoors, Brown Jordan channeled — in tables, lounge chairs and armchairs — the carefree postwar California spirit and helped create a new space in American life: the patio.

The outdoor furniture brand began to take shape in 1945, when Robert Brown, an industrial designer, and Hubert Jordan met in Pasadena, California, and began collaborating on their first design, a traditional wrought-iron breakfast set they called Morning Glory. They offered it for sale via the upscale department store Bullock’s Wilshire. The store ran an ad about the new outdoor set, and, by the end of the day, it had sold out completely.

A few years later, in 1948, the duo followed up with a new, very different design: the Leisure collection, one of the first to combine aluminum with vinyl “lace.” The materials were newly available after the war and offered a mid-century silhouette that was also lightweight and specifically designed for outdoor use. Some of Brown Jordan’s most singular pieces arose from another postwar material: Copper piping salvaged from ships that had sunk at Pearl Harbor was used to create sculptural, curvilinear outdoor furnishings as part of the Walter Lamb Bronze collection, which was first launched in the 1940s.

The Tamiami collection, by Brown Jordan in-house designer Hall Bradley, followed in the 1950s, with streamlined aluminum frames and vinyl seats and backs woven in a diagonal pattern. The line quickly became popular not only in California but across the country and on the East Coast, prompting an expansion from the original two colorways to a wider assortment of of-the-moment hues.

Brown Jordan’s offerings gained recognition as both innovations and symbols of a new kind of leisure. Tadao Inouye’s Kantan lounge chair, launched in 1956, was chosen by the Department of Commerce to be exhibited at the 1959 Industrial World’s Fair in Tokyo. In 1968, it was featured in the Cooper Hewitt’s “Please Be Seated” exhibit.

Bright colorways, metallics, pastels, powder coating and weather-ready materials became some of Brown Jordan’s hallmarks, heralding durable, design-forward furniture that helped create the modern idea of outdoor living.

Find a collection of vintage Brown Jordan furniture today on 1stDibs.