“Pedestal” Armchair and Seat Cushion

Taking full advantage of pliable fiberglass, the Pedestal armchair’s flowing lines create a unified design statement that has led to its being nicknamed the “Tulip” chair. It is the culmination of Saarinen’s experiments with molded shell forms, begun in 1940 in a collaboration with Charles Eames. The chair the two designed that year for The Museum of Modern Art’s Organic Design in Home Furnishingsexhibition won an award and set the stage for innovative mid-centuryfurniture design.

• Designer: Eero Saarinen, American, born Finland, 1910-1961
• Manufacturer: Knoll International, Inc.
• Medium: Plastic reinforced with fiberglass, wool
• Place Manufactured: New York, New York, USA
• Dates: Designed 1956; Manufactured ca. 1970
• Dimensions: 32 x 25 1/2 x 23 in. (81.3 x 64.8 x 58.4 cm)
• Markings: Printed rectangular paper label afixed to seat interior, below cushion: Knoll International / 320 PARK Avenue / New york, NY 10022 (logo, capital “K” in a red circle).
• Signature: no signature
• Inscriptions: no inscriptions
• Collections: Decorative Arts
• Museum Location:  This item is on view in Contemporary Furniture
• Accession Number: 78.128.7
• Credit Line: Gift of Knoll International, Inc.
• Rights Statement: Creative Commons-BY-NC
• Caption: Eero Saarinen (American, born Finland, 1910-1961). “Pedestal” Armchair and Seat Cushion, Designed 1956; Manufactured ca. 1970. Plastic reinforced with fiberglass, wool, 32 x 25 1/2 x 23 in. (81.3 x 64.8 x 58.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Knoll International, Inc., 78.128.7. Creative Commons-BY-NC
• Image: overall, 78.128.7_view2_IMLS_SL2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
• Catalogue Description: White plastic reinforced with fiberglass molded into a tulip-shaped armchair with pedestal; seat cushion of latex foam rubber covered in red wool. Slightly curved seat bottom rises to arm rests and (higher) seat back; top of back is slightly scooped then slopes down to arm rests. Edges rolled over, extended further at sides to form arm rests. The seat is supported by a tapered, attenuated cylinder that continues into a wide flat circular base. Seat and base are two separately molded pieces attached with six bolts. The C-shaped, detachable seat cushion is attached beneath by two velcro strips.

credit:  The Brooklyn Museum