20th Century Furniture at Furniture Love

George Nelson Primavera sideboard for Herman Miller, 1949.

We’ve become a bit overcrowded with furniture on the blog, I seem to be finding a lot of inspiration recently in this sector which has probably been helped thanks to my foray into architecture. Particular studying the so called “International Style” which involved famous architects such as Peter Behrens, Le Corbusier, and Walter Gropius, it’s been fascinating to read up about the furniture inside their buildings and how it played a part in their thinking and workings. Alvar Aalto for example, who’s not featured here but is still quite relevant, was pretty adamant that his furniture sowed the seed from which many of his architectural ideas sprang forth. He used to design many buildings with the interior and the products inside, he arrived at a point where both his buildings and furnishings were his own interpretation of functionalism.

So today I thought it wouldn’t harm if I transferred across a different array of furniture from a Belgian site named Furniture Love. They stock a wide array of vintage 20th century design, selling furniture, lighting, industrial design and much much more. Everything is pretty original and they try to keep the wear on the objects and the natural sign of age which I think is a nice touch since we’re seeing a lot of dodgy reproductions these days. Like the other posts that I tend to put together I’m going to pick out a few of my favourites, what I like about them and a bit of history behind these wonderful pieces of furniture.

So this is going to be pretty hard considering there are some great items, above is a George Nelson Primavera sideboard made in 1949 for Herman Miller. It’s a walnut cabinet with four draws and one main door which has two shelves inside, I thought it was quirky with the handles made out of metal, it resembles a curvy cross. Two other items I was blown away by include the Coffee table and the Kongo chair made in the 50’s by Ilmari Tapiovaara, a designer from Finland who I’ve talked about before. The chair really reminds me of George Nakashima and some of his works, this one is made out of beechwood and has been designed to be folded up for storage. Quite a nice idea, the coffee table is really low, a Japanese influence I think, with its 3 split table top platform and rectangle legs in dark brown pine. As you can see this little shop has plenty to look through and I’m sure it will keep you busy for quite a while this afternoon. It certainly grabbed by attention, “Furniture love” indeed.

www.furniture-love.com

George Nelson desk with cabinet and Eames chair.

Cees Braakman pair of FB03 lounge chairs Combex series.

George Nelson Primavera sideboard Herman Miller 1949.

Combex coffee table Cees Braakman UMS-Pastoe.

Coffee table (1955) and Kongo or easy Chair (1953) by Ilmari Tapiovaara Finland.

Florence Knoll pair of white marble side tables, 1953.

Harry Bertoia slat Bench Knoll International.

Pierre Jeanneret Writing chair Chandigarh India.

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