Profile perfection

I have a John Van Koert Drexel Profile dining set and china cabinet in my home, so I know I have a bias...but I think the new Profile desk and chair in our store are breathtaking.

Since I've admitted my bias, I might as well elaborate. I have a personal preference for the Drexel Profile desk we have now over the Broyhill  Brasilia desk we sold recently. Don't get me wrong; Brasilia is beautiful, and I know many of you are diehard fans, but I'm beginning to find it a little overdone, although I admit that might be because I see so much of it at our store. For the past few years, owning a piece of Brasilia has almost become de rigueur in mid-century homes, and while that doesn't detract from the good looks of the line, for me it diminishes the appeal. I'd rather not have something that everyone else has.

I find the lines of Profile pieces fluid and graceful and the sculptural silver plated pulls subtle and elegant. Overall, the Profile desk looks and feels like a finer piece of furniture to me than its Brasilia counterpart. Tapered legs curve gently into the back of the chair, whose delicately spindled back belies its sturdy durability. Best of all, you won't find Profile pieces in every antique mall.

Drexel catalog

Pulls on my Profile K50 china cabinet

Profile catalog

Profile desk and side chair
mid2mod.com

Close-up of silver plated Profile pull
1stdibs.com

Profile catalog

Profile dining set
1stdibs.com

Profile catalog

Profile catalog

Profile catalog

Silver linings

One of the features of the Drexel Profile line that set it apart from most other mid-century collections with brass pulls was its silver trim and hardware.  The Profile K50 china cabinet, in addition to its unique shed top, has silver pulls and lines of silver down the doors.

A 23-page 1960 Drexel catalog says, "The flowing silver-plated hardware, as elegant as fine sterling, especially reflects Van Koert's work in silver design."

Front of Drexel Profile K50 china cabinet

All that glitters is not Towle

A couple of years ago, I was browsing through a Macy's ad, and a set of stainless steel flatware caught my eye. It was a style called Opus by Henckels.  What attracted me were the modern lines and the simplicity of the design. I bought a set and love it more now than the first time I saw it.

Recently I was doing some research on John Van Koert, the designer of my Drexel Profile dining room furniture, and I saw a picture of the Contour sterling flatware he designed for Towle in 1951.  I was surprised to see how much his design inspired the design of some of the pieces of the Opus flatware.  Though not identical, it definitely has the same feel, with its narrow, upturned handle. While the knives are the most dissimilar pieces, the dinner forks, spoons, and meat forks are very much alike. Now I know why it looks like it was made to go with my furniture.

I found a set of Contour flatware on eBay today for $2995, but I don't plan to raid the savings account to buy it. I'll just stick with my Opus for now. However, a Contour set has definitely made it to my "If I Ever Find It Cheap" list.

Contour in sterling silver by John Van Koert for Towle

My Henckels Opus stainless steel flatware

John Van Koert

Since I featured my Drexel Profile dining furniture in a recent post, I thought I'd devote some time to the designer, John Van Koert. He is not as well-known as some MCM designers, but he played an integral role in establishing the modern aesthetic.

Van Koert (1912-1998) designed silverware and furniture that helped introduce modernist shapes.  Born in Manitoba, Canada, he later moved to Milwaukee, where he studied at the University of Wisconsin to be a painter and sculptor and taught design in the art department. After World War II, he settled in New York as a jewelry designer for Harry Winston and later branched out into industrial design.

His flatware designs for Towle were well known in the 50s.  One of them, "Contour," as sleek Miro-like design, was chosen to represent modernism in "Knife, Fork and Spoon," a 1951 traveling exhibition on the history of eating implements organized by the Walter Art Center of Minneapolis.

In 1954, he was exhibition director of "Design in Scandinavia," a show that traveled for three years to venues around the country and helped introduce Scandinavian modern design to Americans.

Van Koert's furniture designs for Drexel were presented in model rooms in department stores like Abraham & Straus, Macy's and Bloomingdale's.  A 1956 installation of walnut furniture with rounded edges, silver-finished hardware and chartreuse upholstery known as the Profile collection, was shown against purple, silver, and electric-blue walls.

Van Koert was an early advocate of the built-in furniture popular in the 1950s with modernist architects and designers.  Predicting a time when people would treat furniture like kitchen cabinetry, he said in an interview in 1958: "We shouldn't have to move our furniture when we more. After all, you can't get sentimentally attached to a $200 chair."

From nytimes.com

Contour beverage set for Towle
modernsilver.com

Contour flatware for Towle
liveauctioneers.com

Drexel ceramic side table
1stdibs.com

Drexel Profile night stands
danishmodernla.com

Profile desk and chair
vandm.com

My Drexel Profile set

Pronunciation Guide

What's a poor girl to do?

Is it possible to have great mid-century pieces if you're on a tight budget? You bet!  Anyone who wants a beautifully appointed MCM home can have one with some dedicated, persistent shopping.  I'm a retired teacher, so I can't afford 1st Dibs prices, but I've found wonderful vintage furniture by shopping eBay, craigslist, thrift stores, and Goodwill.

I had searched for a 1955 Drexel Profile dining room set for a long time, but the best price I could find online was $3500 for the table and six chairs.  I was scouring CL one day, and a very nondescript listing caught my eye.  All it said was "Elegant dining room furniture."  There wasn't even a photo, but my gut instinct told me to check it out.  I called the owner and asked her what she had.  She told me that she and her husband had bought the set at a thrift store when they were newlyweds back in the 1970s, but she didn't know anything more about it.  I asked if it had any markings or labels on the bottom of the table, and she said she'd crawl under there and see.  When she came back to the phone, she said, "It says something about Profile...and Drexel."  I thought my heart was going to pound out of my chest.  I said, "And you only want $500 for it?  You're sure?"  To my amazement, she said, "Oh, that's plenty...and I forgot to put in the ad that a china cabinet goes with it."  I was at her door in an hour, money in hand.

Another find was a metal wall sculpture that came up on craigslist.  I had seen the same one online for $3200, but I got it for $65 from a man in Oklahoma City who had it hanging on the wall in his commercial metal shop, along with several signed C. Jere' pieces.  The one I bought wasn't signed, but it's a great piece nonetheless.

Here are several of my favorite "cheap" finds on craigslist or affordable vintage shops:

Drexel Profile table/chairs and china cabinet found on craigslist for $500
instead of $3500 online for only the table and chairs

One of my most recent purchases...just what I'd been looking for
 and only $725 from Atomica Modern in Dallas, TX

Cool find from Room Service Vintage in Austin, TX...
for only $169

Possible C. Jere' for $65...but authentic or not,
a much better price than $3200 for an identical one
on Center44 web site