Sideboard Model 116 by Florence Knoll Bassett for Knoll International, 1950s
About the Item
- Creator:Florence Knoll (Artist),Knoll (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 31.11 in (79 cm)Width: 72.05 in (183 cm)Depth: 18.12 in (46 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Lasne, BE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU4853232267072
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.
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Opprebais , Belgium
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Sideboard by Florence Knoll Bassett for Knoll Inc, 1960sBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Lasne, BESideboard made of wood, fabric, glass and metal legs. The handles of the doors are in leather. It has 2 sliding doors with one containing a drawer. There are 3 hinged doors, one cont...Category
Vintage 1960s Central American Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
MaterialsMetal
- Credenza Sideboard by Florence Knoll Bassett for Knoll, 1960sBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in Lasne, BEWooden sideboard with metal legs and marble top with 4 doors that can be locked with a key. Wear due to time and ageCategory
Vintage 1960s Central American Mid-Century Modern Buffets
MaterialsMarble, Metal
- Sideboard by George Coslin for 3V, 1960sBy George Coslin, 3V ArredamentiLocated in Lasne, BESideboard with 2 sliding doors with skai containing a shelf, 4 drawers and a door containing a shelf. Designed by George Coslin in the 1960s. Wear due to time and ageCategory
Vintage 1960s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Buffets
MaterialsFaux Leather, Wood
- Eton Sideboard by Marco Zanuso for Arflex, 1960sBy Arflex, Marco ZanusoLocated in Lasne, BEBlack wooden sideboard with a mirror on top and a metal bar on the bottom. 4 doors with two drawers and two shelves inside. Wear due to time and age of the sideboard.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Buffets
MaterialsMetal
- Sideboard by Gianfranco Frattini for Bernini, 1950sBy Bernini, Gian Franco FrattiniLocated in Lasne, BEWooden sideboard with 3 sliding doors containing a shelf and 4 drawers. Stamped Bernini on the inside. Wear due to time and ageCategory
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
MaterialsWood
- Executive Armchair by Eero Saarinen for Knoll Inc. / Knoll International, 1960sBy Knoll, Eero SaarinenLocated in Lasne, BEArmchair in yellow fabric. Stamped Knoll. Wear due to time and age of the chair (see photo) Seat height: 47cm.Category
Vintage 1960s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsFabric, Wood
- Sideboard Model 116 by Florence Knoll for Knoll International, USA, 1950sBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Antwerp, BELovely sideboard by Florence Knoll for Knoll international, USA 1950s. This sideboard is model 116 and is made out of teak wood. The two seagrass sliding doors features patinated cog...Category
Vintage 1950s Central American Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
MaterialsSteel
- Florence Knoll Model 116 Seagrass Sideboard, 1950sBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in ABCOUDE, UTFantastic Sideboard by Florence Knoll, model 116 in maple wood and original seagrass sliding doors for Knoll International, Stuttgart, 1950s This breathtaking timeless design will i...Category
Vintage 1950s Sideboards
MaterialsMetal
- Florence Knoll Seagrass Sideboard Model 116 by Knoll, 1952By Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Aachen, NWRare midcentury Seagrass sideboard model 116 by Florence Knoll for Knoll. Designed in 1947 and made in Germany in a very low production line in the early 1950s. Impressive veneer & ...Category
Vintage 1950s German Sideboards
MaterialsWood, Seagrass
- Model 116 Sideboard with Raffia Doors Designed by Florence Knoll in the 1950sBy Florence Knoll, KnollLocated in Antwerpen, AntwerpDecorative sideboard model 116 designed by Florence Knoll in the early fifties for Knoll associates. Florence Knoll studied architecture under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Eliel Saar...Category
Vintage 1950s Central American Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
MaterialsRaffia, Wood
- Mid-Century Wall-Hanging Sideboard by Florence Knoll, Knoll international, 1950sBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Rosendahl, DEExtremely rare wall-hung sideboard (Mod°123) from 1958, designed by Florence Knoll for Knoll International - this version was produced in a small edition by Knoll in Stuttgart in 195...Category
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
MaterialsLeather, Wood
- Double-Decker Sideboard by Florence Knoll for Knoll InternationalBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in Beerse, VANBeautiful and extremely rare double-decker sideboard designed by female designer Florence Knoll. She designed a series of these sideboards in the early 1950s, which were produced unt...Category
Vintage 1960s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Sideboards
MaterialsLeather, Formica, Walnut