They do have a Knoll-ish appearance, but I do not believe they are Knoll. I got pretty familiar with their credenzas when I found one on the street for free, and I don't remember seeing this in amongst their stuff.
If you are interested in proving me wrong, the Smithsonian has a reasonably extensive collection of images from Florence Knoll's estate which make a very interesting tour, and show quite a significant number of Knoll designs. I would look for those handles, even on a different case. But I don't think you will find them....
Thanks JJW. That's interesting, I never considered the possibility of knoll for some reason. I had a dealer here some time back deliver some stuff to me and we went out to the garage/shop and he was doing the classic dealer snoop head on a swivel, and those made him perk up. I told him they were the landlords (at the time) and I couldn't do anything about it, but he wanted them. I sort of forgot about them until the other day when I went out there to dig something out and figured I would try to find out if they're anything of note.
Here are a few interior pictures of the house. The kitchen ones are old and a little dark and blurry, the other ones you see it's a bit cluttered because we had a dinner party and I have a problem with buying things. I'm trying to sell more now to support my habit.
I'll try to upload some pictures of the yard and exterior which is almost nicer than the house. The architect was a master landscaper of some sort and the yard is like secret garden. We have a nice bamboo forest and creek out back too.
Leif, I missed your comment while I was getting my last one going. I thought that the handles didn't look like something that would be on a knoll piece, but I'm not all that knowledgeable to begin with. There is a slight possibility the original owner made the chests, but I don't think so. I've looked for a makers mark but haven't found one yet in any drawers. I am yet to pull them out and look underneath or on the back. One of the kids that grew up in the house paid me a visit a few weeks ago and said her dad loved mid century modern and that he left some nice furniture here. In particular, she mentioned the Howard Miller clock and told me I could keep it, which I thought was funny.
Leif -
I'll definitely defer to you. I've been enjoying some time off today and went scouring the web and still haven't found that handle on anything, like you said. And thanks for the info with the Smithsonian!
Either way, I'd like to know more about those. Some more pics would be helpful. There seems to be 3 separate ones. Could they be nightstands?
Since I've already opened my mouth: a few more observations. Nice photos; plenty of salient details.
The stopped dado drawer slides are a high end feature. It is more prevalent on high end Danish pieces than American. That secondary wood is sycamore, unless I am greatly mistaken. It has a very distinctive grain pattern.
The staples through the pins of the dovetails on the drawer corners are quite surprising. Are all the drawers like that? I am wondering if they might have gotten wiggly and the former owner stapled them, in which case he easily might have only the loose ones. The would be a clear tell of later work. If it is original, and you can find another drawer with stapled dovetails, it is highly likely it came from the same maker.
The primary wood is birch I believe.
The legs look a lot like Knoll legs. The handles not so much.
What material are the handles made of?
Ok, I went back out there and moved the cabinets to look for a label on the bottom or on the drawer backs. In doing so I noticed that most of the drawers are staples like that. The most beat up of the three does not have staples on all drawers. It also has a lip on the back top edge that is definitely another piece of wood with veneer or laminate on it. The other two units looks like they had them removed possibly because there are several holes along that too back edge where dowels would go. I did find a paper label/tag attached to the outer back side of the top drawer on two units. Though it makes no sense to me. It seems like something you would order out of a catalog maybe. Perhaps it makes sense to someone else though. The handles are made of metal, like the tubular legs. I've included some more pictures.
The Risom pulls are also a completely different shape from underneath. I bet the dealer thought they were Risom, too.
Try a company calle Morganton:
https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/storage-case-pieces/dressers/three-dra...
If you need any help, please contact us at – info@designaddict.com