Early Basic Cabinet Series Walnut Sideboard Credenza by George

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Early Basic Cabinet Series Walnut Sideboard Credenza by George Holy cow!!! This is such an icon of mid-century modern design I can hardly contain my excitement in offering it to you. So here goes……! It is a sideboard or credenza cabinet from the BCS, or Basic Cabinet Series designed by George Nelson in 1946 for Herman Miller. This one is in the walnut finish with double full-height doors on the left and a stack of four drawers on the right. It is a stand-alone unit with one-inch brushed chrome cylindrical legs and aluminum “J” handles. It retains its original George Nelson/Herman Miller label in the top drawer dating it to 1946-1958. This piece has been restored; however, it was used afterward so may have a little evidence of that use. It is a fantastic find and we are so in love with it here at the shop. George Nelson, designer, architect and author, was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1908. He studied at Yale earning a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in 1928 and 1931 respectively. He also studied at the Catholic University in Washington DC where he won the Rome Prize which may have been the turning point in his life. While there he met and interviewed 12 leading architects of the time including Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Gio Ponti, and Walter Gropius. These interviews were published in the magazine Pencil Points. Then as associate editor of Architecture Forum and Fortune magazines Nelson’s writing drew the attention of D. J. DePree, president of Herman Miller, resulting in Nelson creating his first design for Herman Miller in 1945 and subsequently becoming their Design Director in 1947. While at Herman Miller Nelson was involved in the design of hundreds of furniture pieces and recruited iconic design talents including Isamu Noguchi and Charles and Ray Eames. George Nelson also launched a studio in New York to design furniture, architecture, graphics, and exhibitions for clients the likes of General Electric, Olivetti, Abbott, and more. The studio went by various names, but it always included incredible designers such as George Tscherny, Gordon Chadwick, Ettore Sottsass, Michael Graves, and Arthur Drexler, to name a few. Many landmark designs came from this man and his studio. George Nelson passed away in New York in 1986 at the age of 77. Herman Miller started life as Star furniture Co. in Zeeland, Michigan in 1905 a producer of high-quality furniture. Becoming Michigan Star Furniture Co in 1919, and then in 1923, when long time employee Dirk Jan De Pree and his father-in-law purchased 51% of the company stock, it was renamed Herman Miller Furniture Company. And remained so until the 1960s when it became Herman Miller, Inc. Until the 1930s they produced only traditional wood furniture, but the Great Depression caused a need for change and they hired modernist Gilbert Rohde who took the company in a new successful direction. Upon Rohde’s death in 1944 he was replaced by none other than the renowned George Nelson. Working with the likes of not only Charles and Ray Eames but Isamu Noguchi, Alexander Girard, and Robert Propst, to name just a few, Nelson lead Herman Miller to became one of the finest names in furniture and design. This is one of the pieces in my top 10 most important pieces of mid-century modern design. You need to make it yours! Price: $4,495 This awesome chair has been in our long-lost storage for quite a few years and we have just now had the time to restore it to its original beauty. It is not marked and after extensive research we had not determined its maker. It is so like the gorgeous lounge chairs designed by Jens Risom, but the front apron and the curvature of the arm is just not the same. The arm shape is more reminiscent of the armchair by Ole Wanscher for John Stuart, but this chair has a floating seat and back, like the Risom chair, and not loose cushions. It was a puzzle. But is fabulous so we listed it without determining its designer and maker. Then…a fabulous MCM dealer saw our listing and contact us. Boy! Did we have a DUH! moment. It turns out this is the incredible 5476 Lounge Chair designed by George Nelson circa 1952 for Herman Miller, although unmarked. Its warm and wonderful walnut frame has been carefully refinished and restored so it still retains the look of a vintage piece. In addition, the new fabric was chosen to have a rich and original feel. And just look at that color! We call it fuchsia. You can call it whatever you want. Just call it yours! Price: $2,295 When we saw this desk setting in the office of the home where we obtained it, I think I may have gasp! It is so beautiful. This is the Action Office I roll top desk or A01. The first generation of the Herman Miller Action Office group. It was the brain child of Herman Miller Research Corporation under the direction of Robert Propst with George Nelson as Design Director. It was first produced in 1964 and ended its production in 1968 with the introduction of Action Office II. This magnificent example of mid-century modern design was the forerunner to the office cubical. There were two models made. One for standing to work and this one for being seated. The thought was to promote concentration by providing change. Its tambour door was meant to increase work production by allowing you to close the roll top on your uncompleted work at night and open it right up to start in again in the morning, as well as providing privacy. Action Office was awarded the Alcoa Industrial Design Award in 1965. The combination of materials is true George Nelson and make this piece shine. This example has an unusual blue color to its end panels. Not quite turquoise. Not quite steel blue. Not quite robin’s egg blue. Combine that with gorgeous walnut of the roll top, the aluminum legs, white plastic laminate desktop, and you have something beyond incredible. Plus, the roll top conceals a compartment in the back for hanging file folders and there are four individual pencil drawers across the front. Do not let this icon of mid- century design get away. Make it yours! Price: $8,995.
Recommended publications
  • Preservation by Design: Archives and Records Services at Herman Miller, Inc
    Reprint: Business Archives Section Newsletter, 1998 Preservation by Design: Archives and Records Services at Herman Miller, Inc. By Robert W. Viol, Corporate Archivist, Herman Miller, Inc. Who is Herman Miller? Collections and Services departments. Space in the record Herman Miller Inc. is a leading Herman Miller’s corporate archival center has been designed to store multinational manufacturer of holdings have been described by requested documents and furniture, furniture systems and researchers as "awesome" - a accommodate lawyers from both furniture management services. testimonial to the corporate sides of the courtroom. Headquartered in Zeeland, officers, who have generously Michigan, Herman Miller has been provided monetary and moral Get Rid of that Backlog! It Costs a source of major innovation in the support, and to the dozens of men Us Money! residential and office and women, who have contributed Litigation research has environments. The company their effort, time and talent. The demonstrated the urgent need to emphasizes problem solving archives, now located in one of the eliminate the backlog of through design, participate company’s original buildings, uncataloged Herman Miller management, environmental documents the development of publications and non-Herman responsibility and employee stock Herman Miller product from its Miller materials containing third ownership. inception and creation to marketing party endorsements of our product. and distribution. Collections Every growing and viable archives Herman Miller, Inc. began in 1905 include publications, administrative will have a backlog of the as the Star Furniture Company, a records, photography, drawings unprocessed, however, when manufacturer of ornate and blueprints, oral histories, records or publications are reproductions of traditional-style audiovisuals, three dimensional requested as a result of a court home furniture.
    [Show full text]
  • International Design Conference in Aspen Records, 1949-2006
    http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8pg1t6j Online items available Finding aid for the International Design Conference in Aspen records, 1949-2006 Suzanne Noruschat, Natalie Snoyman and Emmabeth Nanol Finding aid for the International 2007.M.7 1 Design Conference in Aspen records, 1949-2006 ... Descriptive Summary Title: International Design Conference in Aspen records Date (inclusive): 1949-2006 Number: 2007.M.7 Creator/Collector: International Design Conference in Aspen Physical Description: 139 Linear Feet(276 boxes, 6 flat file folders. Computer media: 0.33 GB [1,619 files]) Repository: The Getty Research Institute Special Collections 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100 Los Angeles 90049-1688 [email protected] URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref (310) 440-7390 Abstract: Founded in 1951, the International Design Conference in Aspen (IDCA) emulated the Bauhaus philosophy by promoting a close collaboration between modern art, design, and commerce. For more than 50 years the conference served as a forum for designers to discuss and disseminate current developments in the related fields of graphic arts, industrial design, and architecture. The records of the IDCA include office files and correspondence, printed conference materials, photographs, posters, and audio and video recordings. Request Materials: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the catalog record for this collection. Click here for the access policy . Language: Collection material is in English. Biographical/Historical Note The International Design Conference in Aspen (IDCA) was the brainchild of a Chicago businessman, Walter Paepcke, president of the Container Corporation of America. Having discovered through his work that modern design could make business more profitable, Paepcke set up the conference to promote interaction between artists, manufacturers, and businessmen.
    [Show full text]
  • George Nelson: Architect, Writer, Designer, Designer, Writer, Architect, Nelson: George 
    Family Guide Explore the exhibitions George Nelson: Architect, Writer, Designer, Teacher and Jill Downen: COUNTERPARTS with your child. Look closely at the artworks to see all the details included by each artist, but please remember to be careful and not touch the art or gallery walls. Parents, use the questions in bold to guide your children through the exhibitions. George Nelson: Architect, Writer, Designer, Teacher celebrates the birth of this iconic American designer, who would have turned 100 in 2008. Organized by the Vitra Design Museum to commemorate this occasion, the exhibition is the first comprehensive retrospective of Nelson’s work. Jill Downen: COUNTERPARTS, the third installment of the NEW FRONTIERS Series for Contemporary Art, exhibits approximately ten architectural sculptures combining human anatomy with the constructed environment. Through her work, Downen invites viewers to reevaluate architectural space in relation to their body and encourages them to achieve a greater awareness of self in that space. (LARGE) TENDON ON PALETTE, 2009 The pieces in the exhibit show the artist’s touch and the transfer of energy from her own body. It is this direct imprint—from smoothing, sanding, scraping, chipping, and scaring—that gives the works a life of their own. One way that Downen makes her sculptures is by first carving the forms and then covering them with a layer of plaster. What are other ways you could make a uide sculpture similar to this one? At home, practice making your own miniature version of this work using air- dry clay, Model Magic, or floral foam and plaster. PLUMB LINE WITH PLASTER, 2011 Plumb lines are tools used by construction workers to ensure that walls are true, or “plumb.” Downen has a collection of plumb bobs, old and new, and uses them in her installations as anchors.
    [Show full text]
  • Modern Classics 1960 Advertisement Sunset Magazine (February) Ever Wondered How Something Becomes a Classic?
    Modern Classics 1960 Advertisement Sunset Magazine (February) Ever wondered how something becomes a classic? We have, and we’d like to share our thoughts with you. We believe furniture becomes classic when it demonstrates a lasting appeal, an original personality, and a simple, innovative beauty and function. Classics are living proof that good things endure; they have a way of evoking a particular time and making time irrelevant. Committees and corporations don’t design classics. Individuals like Charles Eames and George Nelson and Isamu Noguchi do. Their view of modern design lies at the heart of Herman Miller’s collection of modern classics. Eames ® Storage Unit Eames Hang-It-All ® Eames Chaise Eames Soft Pad Management Chair Eames Walnut Stools Nelson TM Swag Leg Desk Eames Aluminum Group Lounge Chair and Ottoman Eames Molded Plywood Dining Chair Eames Sofa Compact The products above are among the original modern classics still manufactured today and available through Herman Miller. 1946 Advertisement Finger’s Furniture Store A 1945 Life magazine article pictured one of George Nelson’s early designs—the Storagewall. Herman Miller founder D.J. De Pree saw the article and journeyed to New York to convince Nelson to serve as the company’s director of design. The warm personal and professional relationship between Nelson and De Pree yielded a stunning range of products, including the platform bench. Introduced in 1946 as part of Nelson’s first collection for Herman Miller, it possesses clean, rectilinear lines that have made it a landmark of modern design. Eames Executive Chair Eames Molded Plastic Side Chair Nelson Swag Leg Chair Goetz TM Sofa Eames Molded Plywood Coffee Table Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair Eames Wire Base Table Nelson Platform Bench Nelson Swag Leg Table The products above are among the original modern classics still manufactured today and available through Herman Miller.
    [Show full text]
  • HM an Introduction Booklet
    Inspiring designs to help people do great things CONTENTS Our Story Heritage 4 Things That Matter To Us 8 Our Business Today 10 A Global Approach 12 Design Approach Design Tenets 16 Designers 18 A Human Touch 20 Materials 22 Operational Excellence Herman Miller Performance System 26 Testing & Warranty 28 Cradle-to-Cradle 28 Environmental Responsibility 30 People-Centered Approach Sit-Stand-Move-Repeat 34 Living Office 36 Products Performance Seating 40 Systems Furniture 42 Storage 44 Collaborative 46 Herman Miller Collection 48 Subsidiaries and Alliance Partners 50 Our Customers Our Route to Market 54 From left to right: Robert Propst, Alexander Girard, George Nelson, D.J De Pree, Ray Eames and Charles Eames. OUR STORY Herman Miller is a 100-year- old-plus company that places great importance on design, the environment, community service and the health and well-being of our customers and our employees. We work with leading designers to create products that help companies perform better. 1 2 3 1. Poster designed by Don Ervin, 1961 2. Herman Miller Design Director George Nelson 3. Front cover of 1948 Herman Miller Collection catalogue Heritage Herman Miller began as the Star Furniture Company in Zeeland, Michigan in 1905. 4 In 1923 employed clerk D.J. De Pree convinced his father-in-law whose name was Herman Miller, to purchase the majority of the shares in the company. De Pree decided to name the company after his father-in-law–and Herman Miller was born as a company. Initially only replica traditional wooden furniture was produced but from 1924, following the appointment of the designer Gilbert Rohde, a line of original modern furniture was introduced.
    [Show full text]
  • Designing Brand Identity
    Designing Brand Identity Cover design: Jon Bjornson This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright © 2013 by Alina Wheeler. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Published simultaneously in Canada. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with the respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom.
    [Show full text]
  • • Pint-Size Treasure • Colorful Ranch • Bold New Kitchen • Canadian Mcm $5.95 $7.95 Can on Sale Until December 1, 2007 C TOC 7/19/07 10:07 AM Page 6
    F3_FRONT COVER FALL 07 7/18/07 1:18 PM Page 1 FALL 2007 • pint-size treasure • colorful ranch • bold new kitchen • canadian mcm $5.95 $7.95 can On sale until December 1, 2007 c TOC 7/19/07 10:07 AM Page 6 contents features 22 joe average gets modern: denver’s midcentury american dream A mcm dealer crams his tiny home with treasures. 36 mouse house 34 Color and collectibles transform tradition. 48 atomic age architecture on the canadian plains 22 Modernist design Saskatchewan style 60 craftsman converts A whole-house renovation with an affordable modern kitchen. 73 homework Applying geometry to a typical suburban lot. 76 sticky fickett London transplants bring their aesthetic to the Hollywood Hills. 36 60 c TOC 7/19/07 10:09 AM Page 7 fall 2007 departments 10 my 2 cents 12 modern wisdom 70 20 home page Inside readers’ Oregon, Florida and Texas ranches. 70 cool stuff Our picks for worthy posters, appliances, slipcovers and sinks. 86 atomic books & backs 90 ranch dressing Switch plates, chair ID and assorted minutia. 93 events Fall and winter MCM shows 94 buy ar 95 coming up in atomic ranch 95 where’d you get that? 96 atomic advertisers cover The window that looks out on the back yard 76 of this Eichler in San Jose was partially blocked by a brick planter when the owners bought the house. Furnishings include a Bantam sofa and Nelson cigar floor lamp from Design Within Reach, an IKEA coffee table, a black chair from Scandinavian Designs and a reissued George Nelson clock.
    [Show full text]
  • Making a Virtue of Necessity: Herman Miller's Model for Innovation Stephen B. Adams Salisbury University the Center Piece of T
    Making a Virtue of Necessity: Herman Miller’s Model for Innovation Stephen B. Adams Salisbury University The center piece of the October 2011 issue of Fast Company was an article titled “The United States of Design,” which celebrated the influence of American designers and design-centered companies. The article singled out ten design icons in corporate America, including Herman Miller, Inc., which appeared beside Apple Inc.1 Herman Miller has earned a global reputation as a paragon of creativity, with multiple designs earning design of the decade and with the molded plywood chair recognized by Time magazine as design of the 20th century. Such innovation has been an integral factor in the company’s position as an industry leader (named “most admired” furniture company 16 of the first 18 years after joining the Fortune 500 in 1986). Based on recent scholarship in regional studies, however, one would never have guessed that a company from Zeeland, Michigan, distant from creative enclaves such as New York and Los Angeles, would make such an impact. How does a company so reliant on creativity in design thrive outside of the orbit of the creative class? Based on the company’s archival material (internal and external reports, papers and correspondence of executives and designers, meeting minutes, and annual reports), I will show how the furniture industry predicament and practices and the company’s location provided key constraints under which Herman Miller operated. The company’s location helped dictate a distinctive business model, with no designers on 1 Linda Tischler, “The United States of Design,” Fast Company (October 2011): 80.
    [Show full text]
  • Office Interiors and the Fantasy of Information Work
    tripleC 15(2): 540-562, 2017 http://www.triple-c.at Office Interiors and the Fantasy of Information Work Renyi Hong University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, California, United States, [email protected] Abstract: This essay provides a historical context to the office interior, describing its capacity to enchant the sphere of work and to influence the conception of an information worker. Focusing on Florence Knoll and Robert Propst, American designers who contributed to the modern aesthetic in the mid-twentieth century, I highlight how the sale of offices convey an idea of information work which is compatible with pleasure, and how these ideas relate to middle-class norms. Knoll and Propst had relied heavily on the promotional techniques of showrooms, textiles, seminars, and informational materials. These communicative practices emphasise the sensate quality of information work, which coach workers to recognise and interpret the visual, aural, and tactile quality of work environments. In doing so, it also ties sensations of pleasure to the prospect of self-transformation and the fantasy of class mobility. Keywords: Office, Neoliberal Subjectivity, Affective Labour, History, Critical Design, Corporate Space, Affect Theory Acknowledgement: I would like to thank the reviewers for their patience and feedback with this essay. I am also thankful to Barbara Hahn, Jinny Koh, Sarah Banet-Weiser, Tisha Dejmanee, and Zhang Lin for their inputs. 1. Introduction Change Your Space, Change Your Culture, a management trade book published in 2014, makes the case that the office should be a place of refuge, a “safe place that offers some relief, hope, meaning, and accomplishment” from the “external jungle”, the world outside the office which is stressful and replete with unhappy situations (Miller, Casey and Konchar 2014, 18).
    [Show full text]
  • Kathryn Lofton – “Spiritless Space: a Religious History of the Office
    Conference & Workshop: “Media, Material, and Visual Components of Contemporary American Religious Erlebniswelten” (*experience worlds*) University of Heidelberg, August 16 – 18, 2012 Kathryn Lofton, Yale University "Spiritless Space: A Religious History of the Office Cubicle" Abstract: In December 2009, Rich Sheridan, CEO of the Ann Arbor, MI software firm Menlo Innovations posted a blog entry to his company’s site declaring that office cubicles “kill.” He wrote that cubicles “kill morale, communication, productivity, creativity, teamwork, camaraderie, energy, spirit, and results.” When AnnArbor.com ran an article about his post under the title “Death to Cubicles,” many replied, including its famed mother company. After a skirmish of posts and angry disagreement by critics and connoisseurs, Herman Miller waded into the fray, posting to their own web site a compassionate commiseration with Sheridan, as well as a reasoned reiteration of their own marketing clarity. “For us, the best places to work give people a choice of where to work and how to work—if wide‐open spaces suit the kind of work you do, go for them.” This product was—and is—about choice, Herman Milller reminds its buyers. “People will always need privacy, and organizations around the world have found the good old cubicle a wonderful way to organize heads‐down work and minimize distractions.” In the annals of modern design, it is difficult to imagine a more spiritless object than that of the office cubicle. And yet it is to this object that this research will turn, focusing on the ambition of its designer, Robert Propst, and the aesthetic of its producer, Herman Miller, to consider the ideology behind this pervasive sensory experience.
    [Show full text]
  • Corporate Communications/Brand Identity/Marks American Institute Of
    Corporate Communications/Brand Identity/Marks American Institute of Graphic Arts. Symbol Signs, Department of Transportation, 1975. The Best of Brochure Design II, Rockport, MA, 1994. Corporate Profile Graphics 3: An International Collection of Brochures of Companies, Schools and Facilities, Tokyo: PIE Books, 1998. Blik, Tyler. Trademarks of the 60’s & 70’s, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1998. Carter, David E., editor. The Big Book of Logos, New York: Hearst Books, 1999. Diethelm, D. Form and Communication, ABC Verlag, Zurich, 1974. Graphically Bold: Non-Traditional Corporate Design, Nippan Publications, Carson, CA, 1993. Graphis Annual Reports, Graphis Press, Zurich, 1988. Graphis Brochures, Graphis Press, Zurich, 1994. Graphis Corporate Identity, Graphis Press, Zurich, 1989. Graphis Letterhead, Graphis Press, Zurich, 1991. Graphis Logo, Graphis Press, Zurich, 1991. Heller, Steven. Newsletters Now: From Classics to New Wave. Rizzoli, NY, 1996. Henrion, F.H.K./Parkin, Alan. Design Coordination and Corporate Image, Studio Vista, London, 1967. International Corporate Identity 1990. Evolution Graphics, Tokyo, Japan, 1990. Kuwayama, Yasaburo. Trademarks and Symbols of the World, Kashiwa-shobo, 1987. Kuwayama, Yasaburo. International Logotypes, Rockport Publishers, Cincinnati, 1990. Lehner, Ernst. Symbols, Signs and Signets, Cleveland World Publishing, OH, 1950. Leu, Olaf. Corporate Design: Design as Program, Munchen Bruckman, 1994. Making your Mark: Establishing Unique Corporate Identities with Graphic Design, Washington DC: Design Editions, 1998 Neuburg, Hans. Publicity and Graphic Design in the Chemical Industry, ABC Editions, Zurich, 1980. Rosen, Ben. The Corporate Search for Visual Identity, Van Nostrand Reinhold, NY, 1970. Rouard-Snowman, Margo. Museum Graphics, Thames and Hudson, NY, 1992. Shapira, Nathan. Design Process: Olivetti 1908-1978, Olivetti, Italy, 1979.
    [Show full text]
  • China Shop and Pavement by George Nelson Textiles of the 20Th Century™
    China Shop and Pavement by George Nelson Textiles of the 20th Century™ May 2001 Image: Maharam_Pavement_000GroupShot_1.tif, photography by John Gettings [email protected] Maharam 251 Park Avenue South NY, NY 10010 800.645.3943 maharam.com As part of the Textiles of the 20th Century™ series, Maharam announces the reissue of the only textiles designed by George Nelson ever to be produced. The reintroduction consists of two patterns, Pavement and China Shop, both originally designed and produced in 1950. These patterns reflect Nelson’s commitment to applying modern design principles to a variety of media. An innovator and visionary, George Nelson’s work cut across the fields of interior, industrial and exhibition design. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, and Yale educated, Nelson was awarded the Rome prize in 1932, providing him with two years of paid study in Europe, expanding his design vocabulary and refining his exceptional talent. Throughout the rest of his career, Nelson brought a European sensibility to American mid-century modern design. He espoused a rigorous interpretation of modernist aesthetics through a series of influential writings and a wide range of design projects. In the 1940’s Nelson began a long association with Herman Miller. As a furniture designer and the company’s design director, he was responsible for recruiting such innovators as Charles Eames, Alexander Girard, and Isamu Noguchi. Also during this period, Nelson worked with Girard to produce Herman Miller’s first set of textiles and the establishment of a textile division. Nelson continued to work on his own designs from the late 1950’s through the remainder of his years.
    [Show full text]