Custom 1940s Stained Oak Cabinet by James Mont
About the Item
- Creator:James Mont (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 32 in (81.28 cm)Width: 53 in (134.62 cm)Depth: 15 in (38.1 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1940s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. This cabinet appears to retail the original finish. One of the interior door latches was changed at some point but could be replaced with another original style latch.
- Seller Location:Palm Desert, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU797710580121
James Mont
James Mont’s life as an unmistakably talented furniture designer and interior decorator could fill the pages of a best-selling novel or be reimagined as a Hollywood feature film. From the 1930s through the 1960s, Tinseltown’s glitterati and Manhattan’s Mafia underworld coveted his sofas, coffee tables and table lamps.
Mont was born Demetrios Pecintoglu in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1904 to a family of artists. He reportedly studied architecture and art in Spain and France, and during the 1920s, Mont immigrated with his family to the United States.
Mont and his family settled in New York, where he found work in a Brooklyn electrical supply shop. There he sold hardware and designed his own lighting fixtures. The latter caught the eye of a gangster named Frankie Yale, who commissioned him to refurnish his house. Mont’s opulent designs drew on Art Deco, Hollywood Regency and were occasionally marked by chinoiserie, then a very popular trend in decorating. He created the kind of low-profile side tables and sofas that are frequently associated with mid-century modernism, and he is credited today with helping popularize the integration of Asian influences in modern American design.
Mont soon attracted New York City’s most infamous crime bosses, including Charles “Lucky” Luciano and Frank Costello. For a range of mobsters, he created fashionable, functional and sophisticated pieces such as collapsible home bars that would fold down and out of view — a particularly convenient feature during Prohibition — and tables and desks with secret drawers, which were also handy to Mont’s shady clientele.
“You bought a bar from him, and he would also deliver booze in a baby carriage,” antiques dealer and furniture retailer Todd Merrill told New York about Mont in 2008.
Mont designed a room for the World’s Fair in 1939 and later befriended Hollywood celebrities such as Bob Hope, who was best man at his wedding, Irving Berlin and Lana Turner. During the 1940s and ‘50s, Mont continued designing furniture, mastering finishing techniques such as lacquering and incorporating a distinctive “leafing” print effect with silver and gold into his pieces.
Mont’s designs enjoyed a resurgence in the 1990s, and his pieces continue to be sought after by collectors.
On 1stDibs, discover a range of vintage James Mont sideboards, tables and storage cabinets.
You May Also Like
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Wood
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Hardwood
Vintage 1950s North American Chinoiserie Cabinets
Mahogany
Mid-20th Century Sideboards
Brass
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Wood, Oak
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Lacquer
Vintage 1940s American Bookcases
Wood
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Softwood
Mid-20th Century French Cabinets
Metal
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Silver Leaf
More From This Seller
View All21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Metal
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Brass
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Cabinets
Precious Stone, Wood
Vintage 1950s American Buffets
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern Console Tables
Mahogany
Still Thinking About These?
All Recently ViewedRead More
In Dragonette’s New Palm Desert Digs, Great Design Springs Eternal
Since leaving Los Angeles, Patrick Dragonette is experiencing a new kind of creative freedom.
Why This L.A. Designer Prefers Soulful Sophistication over Snobbism
Mallery Roberts Morgan practices a singular brand of creative fluidity as a writer and a quietly influential interior designer.