Harry Bertoia Diamond
Antique Mid-19th Century Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Stainless Steel
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Wrought Iron
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Metallic Thread
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century American Modern Lounge Chairs
1990s Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel, Wire
Mid-20th Century American Modern Lounge Chairs
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Mid-20th Century American Lounge Chairs
Mid-20th Century American Lounge Chairs
Late 20th Century Armchairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century American Modern Lounge Chairs
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Wire
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Metal
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Metal
Vintage 1970s Central American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1970s Central American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1980s Central American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Vintage 1960s American Modern Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1970s German Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1970s German Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1970s North American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1970s German Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Chrome
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Steel
Vintage 1960s Lounge Chairs
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Fabric
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Patio and Garden Furniture
Metal
Vintage 1970s Central American Armchairs
Metal
Vintage 1980s Central American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
Vintage 1950s Italian Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1950s American Chairs
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1980s Central American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1970s North American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1970s American Lounge Chairs
Chrome
Vintage 1960s German Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Metal
1990s American Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
Vintage 1960s American Lounge Chairs
Steel
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Steel
Vintage 1950s Armchairs
Metal
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
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Harry Bertoia Diamond For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Harry Bertoia Diamond?
Harry Bertoia for sale on 1stDibs
Sculptor, furniture and jewelry designer, graphic artist and metalsmith, Harry Bertoia was one of the great cross-disciplinarians of 20th-century art and design and a central figure in American mid-century modernism. Among furniture aficionados, Bertoia is known for his chairs such as the wire-lattice Diamond chair (and its variants such as the tall-backed Bird chair) designed for Knoll Inc. and first released in 1952.
As an artist, he is revered for a style that was his alone. Bertoia’s metal sculptures are by turns expressive and austere, powerful and subtle, intimate in scale and monumental. All embody a tension between the intricacy and precision of Bertoia’s forms and the raw strength of his materials: steel, brass, bronze and copper.
Fortune seemed to guide Bertoia’s artistic development. Born in northeastern Italy, Bertoia immigrated to the United States at age 15, joining an older brother in Detroit. He studied drawing and metalworking in the gifted student program at Cass Technical High School. Recognition led to awards that culminated, in 1937, in a teaching scholarship to attend the Cranbrook Academy of Art in suburban Bloomfield Hills, one of the great crucibles of modernism in America.
At Cranbrook, Bertoia made friendships — with architect Eero Saarinen, designers Charles and Ray Eames and Florence Schust Knoll and others — that shaped the course of his life. He taught metalworking at the school, and when materials rationing during World War II limited the availability of metals, Bertoia focused on jewelry design. He also experimented with monotype printmaking, and 19 of his earliest efforts were bought by the Guggenheim Museum.
In 1943, he left Cranbrook to work in California with the Eameses, helping them develop their now-famed plywood furniture. (Bertoia received scant credit.) Late in that decade, Florence and Hans Knoll persuaded him to move east and join Knoll Inc. His chairs became and remain perennial bestsellers. Royalties allowed Bertoia to devote himself full-time to metal sculpture, a medium he began to explore in earnest in 1947.
By the early 1950s Bertoia was receiving commissions for large-scale works from architects — the first came via Saarinen — as he refined his aesthetic vocabulary into two distinct skeins. One comprises his “sounding sculptures” — gongs and “Sonambient” groupings of rods that strike together and chime when touched by hand or by the wind. The other genre encompasses Bertoia’s naturalistic works: abstract sculptures that suggest bushes, flower petals, leaves, dandelions or sprays of grass.
As you will see on these pages, Harry Bertoia was truly unique; his art and designs manifest a wholly singular combination of delicacy and strength.
Find vintage Harry Bertoia sculptures, armchairs, benches and other furniture and art on 1stDibs.
Finding the Right Seating for You
With entire areas of our homes reserved for “sitting rooms,” the value of quality antique and vintage seating cannot be overstated.
Fortunately, the design of side chairs, armchairs and other lounge furniture — since what were, quite literally, the early perches of our ancestors — has evolved considerably.
Among the earliest standard seating furniture were stools. Egyptian stools, for example, designed for one person with no seat back, were x-shaped and typically folded to be tucked away. These rudimentary chairs informed the design of Greek and Roman stools, all of which were a long way from Sori Yanagi's Butterfly stool or Alvar Aalto's Stool 60. In the 18th century and earlier, seats with backs and armrests were largely reserved for high nobility.
The seating of today is more inclusive but the style and placement of chairs can still make a statement. Antique desk chairs and armchairs designed in the style of Louis XV, which eventually included painted furniture and were often made of rare woods, feature prominently curved legs as well as Chinese themes and varied ornaments. Much like the thrones of fairy tales and the regency, elegant lounges crafted in the Louis XV style convey wealth and prestige. In the kitchen, the dining chair placed at the head of the table is typically reserved for the head of the household or a revered guest.
Of course, with luxurious vintage or antique furnishings, every chair can seem like the best seat in the house. Whether your preference is stretching out on a plush sofa, such as the Serpentine, designed by Vladimir Kagan, or cozying up in a vintage wingback chair, there is likely to be a comfy classic or contemporary gem for you on 1stDibs.
With respect to the latest obsessions in design, cane seating has been cropping up everywhere, from sleek armchairs to lounge chairs, while bouclé fabric, a staple of modern furniture design, can be seen in mid-century modern, Scandinavian modern and Hollywood Regency furniture styles.
Admirers of the sophisticated craftsmanship and dark woods frequently associated with mid-century modern seating can find timeless furnishings in our expansive collection of lounge chairs, dining chairs and other items — whether they’re vintage editions or alluring official reproductions of iconic designs from the likes of Hans Wegner or from Charles and Ray Eames. Shop our inventory of Egg chairs, designed in 1958 by Arne Jacobsen, the Florence Knoll lounge chair and more.
No matter your style, the collection of unique chairs, sofas and other seating on 1stDibs is surely worthy of a standing ovation.