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Rohde boldly informed De Pree that the brand’s furniture had become outdated, which was part of the reason the company was in financial jeopardy.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.
$1,680
H 68 in Dm 15 in
Art Deco/Machine age Aluminum Triple cone adjustable height Torchere, floor lamp
By Kem Weber
Located in Buffalo, NY
Art Deco / Machine age Aluminum Triple cone adjustable height Torchere, floor lamp.. measures from 55-68", great example Classic 1930 lighting.. nice original condition,, patina.
Metal, Aluminum
Unusual Aluminum , wood , mica Art Deco Torchere / floor lamp
By Gilbert Rohde
Located in Buffalo, NY
Unusual Aluminum , wood , mica Art Deco Torchere , floor lamp, adjustable height from 53" -68"... pierced detailing with mica cylinder.. Two - tier aluminum top with lid and (cand...
Aluminum
Early 1930s Walter Von Nessen Floor Lamp, Art Deco
By Walter Von Nessen
Located in Buffalo, NY
Great example, Art Deco, Bauhaus, Walter Von Nessen adjustable height floor lamp. From 50" -58", retains original milk glass shade, also original white bakelite on/off switch, brass ...
Brass
Enameled Floor Lamp, Gilbert Rohde for Mutual Sunset Lamp Company, 1930s
By Gilbert Rohde, Mutual Sunset Lamp Co.
Located in New York, NY
Marked: M.S.L.C. 3489 on base. Missing shade. While best known for his architectural practice—which played integral roles in the restoration of the Statue of Liberty, re-imagining o...
Metal
$26,328Sale Price|20% Off
H 74.81 in Dm 23.63 in
Jean Perzel French Art Deco Very Rare Floor Lamp, circa 1932
By Atelier Jean Perzel
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Jean Perzel, rare floor lamp, model 32, in nickel-plated bronze and salmon-pink crystal. Very rare, only a few collectors and the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris own this mo...
Crystal, Bronze
Floor Lamp Art Deco 1930, German, Material: Wood, chrome and glass
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
Logistics and International Shipping We provide a comprehensive export service so that your only concern is enjoying your acquisition. • Door-to-Door Service: Pieces located in our A...
Chrome
Art Deco floor lamp by Jules Cayette and Schneider
By Jules Cayette, Charles Schneider
Located in NANTES, FR
Art Deco floor lamp circa 1925. Wrought iron base by Jules Cayette. Glassware by Charles Schneider. 1 basin of 40 cm in diameter and 6 blown glass balls. In perfect condition, electrified, 3 lights. Height: 167.5 cm Base diameter: 49 cm Basin diameter: 40 cm Weight: 16 Kg Édouard Élie Jules Cayette, born on May 27, 1882 in Paris and died on January 2, 1953 in Nancy, was a French ironworker, bronze worker, cabinetmaker, sculptor and interior decorator, representative of the Art Nouveau movement, then of that of Art Deco. In 1896, he enrolled for the first time at the municipal and regional school of fine arts in Nancy. He left the school in 1899 and entered as an apprentice with Férez, a wood sculptor and carpenter from Nancy. In 1900, he re-enrolled at the Beaux-Arts in Nancy, while continuing his apprenticeship with Schwartz. He left the school for good in 1902. During this apprenticeship, he received instruction from Victor Prouvé and Eugène Vallin. His classmates were Auguste Vallin, Joseph Mougin and Pierre Mougin. In 1904, he joined Jacques Gruber as a collaborator, where he perfected his style. He modeled many compositions and made sculptures in place of the master as far as furniture was concerned. The workshop then adjoined that of Vallin, hence the latter's definite influence on Cayette's early works. In 1910, Jules Cayette set up his own business and officially began his activity on August 1st. From 1912, he exhibited regularly at the Société lorraine des amis des arts. It was at this time that he met his main patron, Saint-Just Péquart (1881-1944). He set up his first workshop on rue Collinet de La Salle in Nancy in 1913, the date of his first mention in the Meurthe-et-Moselle commercial directory. He married Marie Lucie Berche (1893-1933) on May 11, 1918. In 1919, he moved and set up his workshop at 63, rue des Jardiniers (which would be supplemented by the one on rue du Montet, currently avenue du Général Leclerc, bought from the widow Guth). The 1920s were the glory years of the workshops, which employed a dozen workers. The productions were very varied: from bronze ashtrays to light fixtures — always with Daum glassware...
Wrought Iron
Art Deco Modernistic Table Lamp by Leroy C. Doane for Miller
By Walter Von Nessen
Located in Atlanta, GA
A rare table lamp designed by Leroy C. Doane for Miller Lamp Company, USA. Originally desinged in 1928 and with US Patent No. 1,818,120 - Filed July 7, 1928, the lamp later went thro...
Enamel, Steel
Art Deco Styled Industrial General Electric Medical Sun Floor Lamp
By Canadian General Electric
Located in Hamilton, Ontario
This Art Deco Industrial floor sun lamp was made by General Electric of Canada is approximately 1940, most likely for the medical industry. The lamp is done with a heavy stepped meta...
Metal
$2,538Sale Price|25% Off
H 57.49 in Dm 17.72 in
1930s–1940s three-arm floor lamp in the Art Deco style
Located in Silvolde, Gelderland
The lamp features a solid elm wood base with chrome accents, a copper central rod, and brass upper fittings. The elegant curved arms support three original pleated shades, which show...
Brass
