Tommi Parzinger for Charak Modern Display Cabinet, c 1955, Signed
About the Item
- Creator:Charak Furniture Company (Maker),Tommi Parzinger (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 75.5 in (191.77 cm)Width: 78.25 in (198.76 cm)Depth: 15.75 in (40.01 cm)
- Style:Hollywood Regency (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1955
- Condition:Refinished. Excellent vintage condition, fully restored with a gorgeous french polish and gold leaf. Ready to be used immediately. See description for more details.
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1330230186612
Tommi Parzinger
German furniture designer Tommi Parzinger brought high-style modernism to the forefront. Taking a vivid, stylized approach to mid-century furniture, many of his works feature boldly colored lacquers and offbeat finishes that make his pieces stand out among the works of his peers. Despite his uniquely progressive vision, Parzinger showed equal expertise in producing fine, traditional furnishings.
Born in Munich, Parzinger moved to New York City in 1932. He began his practice in the United States by designing for the Manhattan style trailblazer Rena Rosenthal. In 1939, he established his first company, which split its focus between handcrafted silver household items — such as tea sets and barware — and home furnishings, like dining tables and cabinets. In his first year in business, Parzinger exhibited several pieces of furniture at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.
A master craftsman, Parzinger sought out the most exceptional materials for his furniture, employing the finest woods — like mahogany and walnut — as well as including custom brass hardware and pewter inlays.
His silver works presented an elevated level of style and grace. A November 1939 article in LIFE magazine described Parzinger as “the most creative original designer of silverware in the United States.”
While he was still running his own business — creating 12 to 30 new designs each year — Charak Furniture Company appointed Parzinger as its head of modern furniture design. He modernized Charak’s design approach from a more traditional form to a mid-century modern style.
In the mid-1960s, Parzinger stopped designing furniture, turning his company over to his friend Donald Cameron. He shifted his attention to paintings, which he created until his death in 1981.
On 1stDibs, find a broad selection of vintage Tommi Panzinger tables, lighting, storage pieces and more.
Charak Furniture Company
Over the course of nearly seven decades, Charak Furniture Company produced exemplary reproductions of 18th-century-era furniture, including works created in the American colonial and Georgian styles, as well as sophisticated mid-century modern pieces made by the likes of German furniture designer and painter Tommi Parzinger.
Charak was established in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1919. It earned a reputation for exceptional design and durability, and the 1920s were a period of high production for the brand. Charak was a leading manufacturer of reproductions of early American furniture that was influenced by Queen Anne– and Georgian–era design, including secretaries, dressers and cabinets with exquisite details like accented moldings, carved finials, recessed door panels, claw feet and other embellishments.
While the Great Depression put many furniture manufacturers out of business, Charak Furniture Company weathered the era’s difficulties. In fact, during the 1930s, it introduced one of its most enduringly popular dining tables: the drop leaf Danbury table. The solid mahogany table, which features four leaves to comfortably accommodate larger dining parties as necessary, is supported by four slender and elegantly curving legs, a wonderful example of the company's furniture from this era.
In the 1950s, Charak Furniture Company continued to thrive by shifting production to suit modern tastes. It worked with designers like Donald Deskey and Tommi Parzinger to develop collections that boast the clean lines and sleek silhouettes that characterized many of the period’s designs. The collaborations proved fruitful and prolific. The company’s rare revival and mid-century modern pieces have considerable appeal for today’s collectors.
In its heyday, Charak Furniture Company had showrooms in Chicago and New York City. Today, a 1958 desk designed by Deskey is part of the permanent collection at the Carnegie Museum of Art.
On 1stDibs, find an array of vintage Charak Furniture Company tables, storage cabinets, seating and more.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Long Beach, CA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- Tommi Parzinger for Charak Modern Gold Leaf Console, c 1949, SignedBy Charak Furniture Company, Tommi ParzingerLocated in Los Angeles, CAA rare early-example collectors item, this fully restored Tommi Parzinger for Charak Modern (c. 1949) console table, which also can function as a small writing table, features beauti...Category
Vintage 1940s American Hollywood Regency Console Tables
MaterialsGold Leaf
- Tommi Parzinger for Parzinger Originals Floor Lamp with Side Table, 1955, SignedBy Parzinger Originals, Tommi ParzingerLocated in Los Angeles, CAThis incredible floor lamp with built-in side table by Tommi Parzinger for Parzinger Originals is finished in a black lacquer with Parzinger's signature brass accents. Signed 'Parzinger Originals' under the base, making this 1950s authentic designer piece ultra-collectible. The three lights comprise of a single up-light and two down-lights which can be turned on and off independently of one another or used in unison as demonstrated in the photos. A glass Stiffel branded glass cone shade sits on top of the lamp and a larger black fabric shade with golden insides is included. Can be used with or without the larger black shade. Consider using in a Mid-Century Modern, Hollywood Regency or Postmodern home...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Mastercraft Burled Wood, Brass and Glass Illuminated Vitrine Cabinet, 1970sBy MastercraftLocated in Los Angeles, CAThis incredible burled wood display cabinet, produced by Mastercraft in the 1970s, features incredibly exotic grained burl with arched glass displa...Category
Vintage 1970s American Modern Cabinets
MaterialsBrass
- Mahogany and Beveled Glass Bowfront Vitrine Display Cabinet, circa 1930'sLocated in Los Angeles, CAThis beautiful circa 1930 art deco vitrine cabinet was constructed in gorgeous deep brown Mahogany, featuring a bowfront design with beveled glass for door panes and adjustable / rem...Category
Vintage 1930s Unknown Art Deco Vitrines
MaterialsGlass, Mahogany
- 'Taliesin' Model #2005 Special Cabinet by Frank Lloyd Wright, 1955, SignedBy Heritage-Henredon, Frank Lloyd WrightLocated in Los Angeles, CAThis gorgeously refinished Honduran Mahogany 'Taliesin' Model #2005 Special Cabinet on Stand was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Heritage-Henredon in 1955 and produced only for two years, therefore is now a highly sought-after and rare collectors item and this particular cabinet design being one of the most sought after of the entire collection. This example is signed with the red Taliesin symbol on the back along with its stamped model #2005. This rare Frank Lloyd Wright cabinet features the rare sought after architectural base with equally rare and sought after two door cabinet with concentric square designs on doors. Inside the cabinet is a removable shelf. The cabinet can be removed from the base as can be seen in the photos. Frank Lloyd Wright stated that one of his goals for this line was for the 'design to make the home more efficient as well as more beautiful'. Woven into each piece of this series was the chamfered wood edge with an abstracted Greek key motif, the signature detail of every Taliesin design, covering the edges of each item in the collection. All of the pieces were executed in Honduran Mahogany, a high-end luxury wood choice. His idea was to design ‘infinite adaptability to American living’, for example desks could double as dressing tables, small tables could be used as a chair or stool and bookcases had moveable tops transforming into room dividers. Decoration was limited to the greek key edges so that ‘is of the piece, not on it’ and the removal of elimination of any hardware door or drawer pulls in favor of cut out flush pulls which ‘catch light and shadow for interesting and changing patterns’. Wright pitched three separate concepts to Heritage Henredon: ‘Burberry’, ‘Honeycomb’ and ‘Four Square’ which was the one chosen to go into production and renamed ‘Taliesin’ after Wrights Wisconsin home. A distinguishing feature of the Taliesin line is that each piece is identified with a branded signature which was often accompanied by a red square. No other items from the rest of Wright's career is marked or identified which makes this line more desirable to collectors. This particular cabinet design recently broke auction records for its model - demonstrating the rarity and desirability of Frank Lloyd Wright's work along with the uniqueness of this cabinet design and demand from art and design collectors and investors, along with the interior design community. This beautiful Frank Lloyd Wright Taleisin cabinet would work great in a Craftsman, Farm House, Monterey, Spanish, Mission, Arts & Crafts, Mid-Century Modern, Scandanavian Modern or Danish Modern home or penthouse apartment but could also look fantastic in a Contemporary or Post-Modern room. Also consider mixing it up in a Traditional, Transitional, Classical or Art Deco room with a splash of juxtaposition. Would also be an apt choice in a commercial project such as a hotel lobby lounge or members club, creative design studio or high-rise executive office. Consider using as a small blanket chest, a dry bar for liquor...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsMahogany
- Caned Sculptural Cabinet by Vladimir Kagan for Grosfeld House, 1950s, SignedBy Vladimir Kagan, Grosfeld HouseLocated in Los Angeles, CAThis very rare sculptural caned cabinet was designed by Vladimir Kagan and crafted by Grosfeld House during the 1950s in New York, documented in early Grosfeld House advertisements (see photos). Featuring sculpted legs, a caned door (with original unaltered caning in excellent vintage condition) with brass handle, and interior outfitted with two compartments, one side with an adjustable shelf. While the cabinet is small in size, it is huge in personality. Vladimir Kagan's works have been highly valued by collectors and art / design investors, and his earlier works in the 1950s for Grosfeld House and Kagan-Dreyfuss are among the most sought after by 'purist collectors' like myself. Why do I prize his 1950s works above all else? I can write a short book on this, but one easy to explain reason is that this was a period unlike the rest of his career, where items produced in this time are hallmarked within that period - a distinction that his later works lacked. Essentially, everything post the early 60s blended together with the decades thereafter. A novice Kagan collector is content with anything by Kagan, even items produced by Directional and American Leather Company...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsWalnut, Cane
- Tommi Parzinger for Charak Modern China BreakfrontBy Charak Furniture Company, Tommi ParzingerLocated in Hanover, MATwo piece mahogany breakfront and buffet designed by Tommi Parzinger for Charak Modern circa 1952. Signed Charak Modern. Retains three original solid brass sculptural keys and all working locks. The base cabinet has three doors with distinctive diamond pattern inlay in satinwood. Each door has a custom Parzinger solid brass pull. Behind the bottom left and right doors is an open white cabinet with three original number-stamped shelves which are adjustable and removable. Behind the center door are five pull-out drawers. The upper cabinet has three doors with astonishingly beautiful glass panels which have been deeply wheel cut repeating the diamond pattern as below. The interior of the upper cabinet is painted white, backed by mirror and holds nine adjustable thick glass shelves each with plate grooves. Top left and right have signature Parzinger 'wings' a design element frequently repeated in his career. Beautifully restored by our expert refinisher. See our separate listings for the companion Parzinger dining table, dining chairs and leather front cabinet...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Buffets
MaterialsBrass
- Tommi Parzinger for Charak Modern Two Door CabinetBy Charak Furniture Company, Tommi ParzingerLocated in Hanover, MAClassic mahogany cabinet with tooled and gilt diamond pattern green leather door panels and distinctive polished brass door pulls. Features a single adjustable interior shelf. De...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsBrass
- Tommi Parzinger Credenza/ Sideboard for Charak ModernBy Charak Furniture Company, Tommi ParzingerLocated in St.Petersburg, FLA rare long credenza designed by Tommi Parzinger for Charak Modern. Features three sections each revealed by a door. Left section containing a drawer and shelf, middle section housin...Category
Vintage 1950s North American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsOak
- Tommi Parzinger Chests for Charak Modern- A PairBy Tommi Parzinger, Charak Furniture CompanyLocated in St.Petersburg, FLAn elegant and rare pair of chests/ commodes designed by Tommi Parzinger for Charak Modern. Each chest features two large drawers and two half drawers, finished in an elegant mahogan...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsMahogany
- Tommi Parzinger for Charak Midcentury Bar Cabinet, PairBy Charak Furniture Company, Tommi ParzingerLocated in Countryside, ILTommi Parzinger for Charak midcentury Bar Cabinet - Pair Each bar cabinet measures: 34.25 wide x 18.25 deep x 42.25 inches high All pieces of furniture can be had in what we ca...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Dry Bars
MaterialsMetal, Brass
- Tommi Parzinger Tall Chest or Dresser for Charak ModernBy Charak Furniture Company, Tommi ParzingerLocated in St.Petersburg, FLA tall chest of drawers designed by Tommi Parzinger for Charak Modern. Two piece cabinet with lower portion consisting of three generous sized drawers. Above sits a cabinet with door...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
MaterialsBrass