Herman Miller Art Deco

At 1stDibs, there are many versions of the ideal herman miller art deco for your home. Frequently made of wood, metal and mahogany, every herman miller art deco was constructed with great care. Whether you’re looking for an older or newer herman miller art deco, there are earlier versions available from the 20th Century and newer variations made as recently as the 20th Century. A herman miller art deco, designed in the Art Deco or Mid-Century Modern style, is generally a popular piece of furniture.

Prices for a herman miller art deco can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — at 1stDibs, they begin at $475 and can go as high as $24,995, while the average can fetch as much as $4,900.

Pioneering self-taught industrial designer, writer and teacher Gilbert Rohde helped define the earliest phase of modernism in the United States. He is one of the most influential figures of 20th-century design and is credited with helping legendary mid-century modern furniture manufacturer Herman Miller avert financial disaster during the Great Depression.

Born in New York City, Rohde studied painting at the Art Students League after high school. He found lucrative employment, first as a political cartoonist and then as a catalog illustrator for American department stores. He was particularly enthralled with drawing furnished interiors.

Rohde began to design furniture in his spare time. He traveled to the Bauhaus school in Germany and the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, and drew on the Art Deco movement and the work of designers such as Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann in his early pieces. Rohde opened his own studio in 1929 and secured private and commercial commissions. His clients would come to include formidable furniture makers Heywood-Wakefield and Troy Sunshade, and his innovative bentwood furnishings for them were practical and intended for the modern consumer.

In 1930, Rohde met Herman Miller founder D.J. De Pree in the company’s Michigan showroom during a business trip. By then, Rohde had a long list of prominent clients and his furniture had been exhibited in museums and galleries. Herman Miller was weathering a devastating slowdown in business, and the American furniture industry had generally been hit hard by the Great Depression.

Rohde boldly informed De Pree that the brand’s furniture had become outdated, which was part of the reason the company was in financial jeopardy. Homes had become smaller and could no longer accommodate the large Gothic– and Victorian–style furnishings and traditional reproductions of period bedroom suites that Herman Miller was offering at the time, Rohde explained.

Rohde secured a contract to design for the Michigan manufacturer. He championed the use of exotic woods and tubular steel, and created streamlined, unadorned bedroom furniture for Herman Miller — collections that included convenient vanities, which were unconventional pieces for De Pree’s company back then.

In 1933, Rohde oversaw the design of two bedrooms featuring sleek Herman Miller furniture — including innovative storage pieces he designed — as part of an International–style exhibit at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. The installation garnered acclaim for De Pree’s brand all over the world and afforded Rohde the opportunity to execute on his visionary ideas in front of a global audience. Rohde later designed lighting, seating and more for Herman Miller and was extensively involved in the company's marketing strategy and other areas of the business.

In 1942, Herman Miller, anticipating a postwar economic boom, began to produce office furniture for the first time, but its legacy is in the home. Working with legendary designers such as Ray and Charles Eames, Isamu Noguchi and Alexander Girard, the manufacturer fostered some of the boldest expressions of what we now call mid-century modern style.

Find vintage Gilbert Rohde coffee tables, lounge chairs, table lamps and other items on 1stDibs.

Art Deco furniture is characterized by its celebration of modern life. More than its emphasis on natural wood grains and focus on traditional craftsmanship, vintage Art Deco dining chairs, tables, desks, cabinets and other furniture — which typically refers to pieces produced during the 1920s and 1930s — is an ode to the glamour of the “Roaring Twenties.” 

ORIGINS OF ART DECO FURNITURE DESIGN

• Emerged in the 1920s 
• Flourished while the popularity of Art Nouveau declined
• Term derives from 1925’s Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts) in Paris, France
• Informed by Ancient Egypt, Cubism, Futurism, Louis XVI, De Stijl, modernism and the Vienna Secession; influenced Streamline Moderne and mid-century modernism 

CHARACTERISTICS OF ART DECO FURNITURE DESIGN

• Bold geometric lines and forms, floral motifs
• Use of expensive materials such as shagreen or marble as well as exotic woods such as mahogany, ebony and zebra wood
• Metal accents, shimmering mirrored finishes
• Embellishments made from exotic animal hides, inlays of mother-of-pearl or ivory

ART DECO FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW

• Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann
• René Lalique
• Eileen Gray
• Jean Dunand
• Donald Deskey
• Jean Perzel

VINTAGE ART DECO FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS

Few design styles are as universally recognized and appreciated as Art Deco. The term alone conjures visions of the Roaring Twenties, Machine Age metropolises, vast ocean liners, sleek typography and Prohibition-era hedonism. The iconic movement made an indelible mark on all fields of design throughout the 1920s and ’30s, celebrating society’s growing industrialization with refined elegance and stunning craftsmanship.

Widely known designers associated with the Art Deco style include Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Eileen Gray, Maurice Dufrêne, Paul Follot and Jules Leleu.

The term Art Deco derives from the name of a large decorative arts exhibition held in Paris in 1925. “Art Deco design” is often used broadly, to describe the work of creators in associated or ancillary styles. This is particularly true of American Art Deco, which is also called Streamline Moderne or Machine Age design. (Streamline Moderne, sometimes known as Art Moderne, was a phenomenon largely of the 1930s, post–Art Nouveau.)

Art Deco textile designers employed dazzling floral motifs and vivid colors, and while Art Deco furniture makers respected the dark woods and modern metals with which they worked, they frequently incorporated decorative embellishments such as exotic animal hides as well as veneers in their seating, case pieces, living room sets and bedroom furniture.

From mother-of-pearl inlaid vitrines to chrome aviator chairs, bold and inventive works in the Art Deco style include chaise longues (also known as chaise lounges) and curved armchairs. Today, the style is still favored by interior designers looking to infuse a home with an air of luxury and sophistication.

The vintage Art Deco furniture for sale on 1stDibs includes dressers, coffee tables, decorative objects and more.