Mid2Mod: André

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Saturday, October 22, 2011

In the store, Part 1: Good design

The Bertha Schaefer sofa, the Baumritter chairs, the Broyhill Saga and Barney Flagg Town and Country Flair bedroom suites and the Hansen credenza all sold within a few days of each other, leaving the floor empty, so my SIL brought a few things over from the warehouse and set about doing some serious buying.

He won a Peter Proztman desk and chair at auction. Designed for Herman Miller in the early 60s, these pieces are still in pristine condition. The chair is upholstered in a beige and white check, and the desk is exotic African wood with two pencil drawers and a smoked Lucite-sided file drawer.

On a trip out of state, he got a gorgeous Danish table and six chairs by Hornslet Mobelfabrik. The table has sliding leaves and extends to 106" in length. This is probably the nicest Danish dining set we've had in the store so far.

He met a local architect who sold him a chrome and glass André dining table, which was designed by Tobia Scarpa. The interesting thing about this table is that it comes with a smoked glass top, as well as a clear glass top.

The same person sold him 8 Cesca armchairs by Marcel Breuer. These are in amazingly good condition, without any damage at all to the caning, and he's selling them at an unbelievably low price. I predict that these will be scooped up quickly.

Chrome and African wood Herman Miller desk by Peter Protzman

Close-up of African wood grain

Herman Miller chair by Peter Protzman

Danish dining set in teak by Hornslet Mobelfabrik

André dining table by Tobia Scarpa

Cesca chairs by Marcel Breuer and André table by Tobia Scarpa

Friday, October 21, 2011

Tobia Scarpa

Tobia Scarpa (1935- ), the son of architect Carlo Scarpa, was born in Venice, Italy, and educated at the Instituto Universitario di Architettura there. He has designed for nearly every major international furniture company, including Flos, Cassina, Knoll and B&B Italia.

In the late 1950s, he and his wife Afra began their careers working with the Venini glassworks. In 1960 they opened their own design office. One of their first designs was Chair Model 917 for Cassina. Their Bastiano line was designed for Gavina and later reissued by Knoll. Knoll also sold his André table. In 1966 Scarpa designed the extremely successful Coronado series of armchairs for B&B Italia. In 1968 he and his wife designed the Ciprea armchair, which, along with the 1970 Soriana armchair, were included in the 1972 MoMA Domestic Landscape show.

Scarpa and Pier Castiglioni designed the first products for Flos, the lighting company started by Dino Gavina. His Papillona lamp for Flos, which he designed in 1973, was one of the first to use halogen technology.

With his wife, he later worked in commercial architecture and interior design. Scarpa has been a lecturer at the School of Industrial Design in Venice.

My SIL just picked up an André dining table for the store, and I'll be posting photos soon.

From r20thcentury.com and knoll.com