George Nelson Steelframe Walnut Dresser / Chest for Herman Miller ( A )

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About the Item

An architectural styled Steelframe dresser / chest with satin black metal frame, olive green drawer sides and backs with white laminate top. The faces of the drawers are in a well grained walnut with oval chromed metal pulls , sitting on domes of silence foot pads manufactured by the Herman Miller Furniture Company. This rare piece with special order walnut will work in any interior or room , retaining the metal tag designed by George Nelson .Creator: George Nelson (Designer)Dimensions: Height: 29.5 in (74.93 cm)Width: 33.5 in (85.09 cm)Depth: 17.25 in (43.82 cm)Style: Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)Materials and Techniques: WoodPlace of Origin: United StatesPeriod: Mid-20th CenturyDate of Manufacture: 1950s-1960sCondition: GoodRefinished. Wear consistent with age and use. In restored condition with a few slight marks to the top from use typical for this type of item .Seller Location: Cincinnati, OHReference Number: 1stDibs: LU925141191062Shop All George Nelson

George Nelson

Architect, designer, and writer George Nelson was a central figure in the mid-century American modernist design movement; and his thoughts influenced not only the furniture we live with, but also how we live.

Nelson came to design via journalism and literature. Upon receiving his bachelors degree in architecture from Yale in 1931, he won the Prix de Rome fellowship, and spent his time in Europe writing magazine articles that helped bring stateside recognition to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Gio Ponti, Le Corbusier and other canonical modernist architects.

In the 1940s, Nelson wrote texts that suggested such now-commonplace ideas as open-plan houses, storage walls and family rooms. D.J. De Pree, the owner of the furniture maker Herman Miller, was so impressed by Nelson that in 1944 following the sudden death of Gilbert Rohde, who had introduced the firm to modern design in the 1930s he invited Nelson to join the company as its design director. There Nelsons curatorial design talents came to the fore.

To Herman Miller he brought such eminent creators as Charles and Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi, and the textile and furniture designer Alexander Girard. Thanks to a clever contract, at the same time as he directed Herman Miller he formed a New York design company, George Nelson Associates, that sold furniture designs to the Michigan firm. Nelson’s studio also sold designs for clocks to the Howard Miller Clock Company, a manufacturer that was initially part of Herman Miller before it became an offshoot that was helmed by Howard Miller, D.J. De Pree’s brother-in-law.

Nelsons New York team of designers (who were rarely individually credited) would create such iconic pieces as the Marshmallow sofa, the Coconut chair, the Ball clock, the Bubble lamp series and the many cabinets and beds that comprise the sleek Thin-Edge line.

For dedicated collectors, as well as for interior designers who look beyond the look, there is a cool factor inherent to vintage pieces from George Nelson and others. Nelson was in on it from the start, and its valuable to have a piece that was there with him.

But still, as is evident from the offerings from dealers on 1stDibs, in any of the designs, in any iteration whose manufacture Nelson oversaw and encouraged, there are shining elements of lightness, elegance, sophistication and a little bit of swagger. George Nelson felt confident in his ideas about design and didnt mind letting the world know.