Knoll armchairs  

I do not have any of my Knoll books right now, I can check & post later the model number and you probably know they are by Vincent Cafiero of the Knoll Planning Unit under Florence Knoll contract chairs.

Hi Minimoma,

Thanks for your comment, you are indeed right. In the manner of upholstery I retraced this

to the Vincent Cafiero designs, being back behind my pc I now see a lot more hits in my searches.

I don't have Knoll literature in the area to look into, it would be great if you find some info!

But know I've struck gold, I'll probably invest in the needed books...

BJ, that type of upholstery (tufted?) for Knoll started in 1948 when Florence Knoll was able to convince Mies van der Rohe to reproduce & to secure the rights as sole manufacturer of the Barcelona chair and later the matching footstool. Knoll adapted that upholstery technique to several pieces in several variations while running the Knoll Planning Unit.

One of my earliest (curbside) finds was the executive office chair with a swivel teak base & we like to call it at home the working class Barcelona chair in brown wool blend Knoll textile.

The Cafiero chairs didn't have any welt in the seams of the seats and backs--just a different touch from Florence Knoll's tufted chairs and sofas. I redid a couple of Cafiero Executive chairs years ago and took some pics. (I got this black one for 2 dollars at a junk auction and people thought I was nuts to even bother with it. I didn't know what it was at the time, I just thought it could be brought back from the dead and would look quite sharp.

It had nylon hopsack on the seat and back and vinyl on the arms. I redid it in a Knoll wool/nylon fabric. The original latex foam was quite far gone and I splurged on latex for replacement foam--most comfortable chair I've ever owned!

This is the only Vincent Cafiero vintage Knoll ad (1963) that is related to BJ's chairs I could find online.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/midcentarc/3292776769/in/pool-mid-century/

Thanks Spanky & Minimoma for your additional info and images!

I took some pics today, here are my examples:

Nice! I like the wood frames a lot. And the seat curve is the same as on his office chairs.

bj - I can only find one image of this Knoll armchair from the Knoll Design book by Eric Larabee & Massimo Vignelli published in 1972. There was not much information about this armchair but it was definitely from the Knoll Planning Unit which handled Knoll's large office/corporate projects under the direction of Florence Knoll. The image in this book attributes the designer to Lewis Butler who was one of the earliest designers to work under Florence Knoll when KPU began in 1946. He was FK assistant & senior designer from 1950 & later replaced her as the head/director of KPU (1965-1970). Vincent Cafiero started at KPU in 1952 until 1965. You may want to contact the Knoll Museum to see if they can help you confirm the model number & designer of your chairs. The ad from1963 I found online clearly identifies Vincent Cafiero as the designer of the executive armchairs on swivel bases.

https://www.knoll.com/story/shop/the-planning-unit

Great set of office chairs & like the executive swivel chairs has no problem crossing over as residential furniture also mentioned in the 1963 Knoll ad.

These are the only 3 items that I know that Lewis Butler designed at Knoll, a lounge chair with arms (model 655), an armless sofa (656 & 676) & a coffee table. (358). The wood arms of Lewis Butler design is just a straight wood.

Great info and appreciating every effort, Minimoma!

I was sure I knew of one round table designed by Lewis Buttler, where the four legs are

attached to eachother by a laminated square construction. So you're puzzling me with your

statement about three designs you know of.

Here's a pic of the underside, with the original Knoll tag (and the caption " exclusively made in Belgium")

and the factory writing on the dustcover, mentioning the responsible firm (De Coene) en below the year, 1968.

Every chair is marked the same way. I should go over them and see if there's a similarity in the production number,

that could tell a model number maybe..

The page showing the 3 items came from an older furniture book (pre 1972), the same image from the 1972 Knoll book describing the 3 designs Lewis Butler designed for Knoll. The 3 items came in different variations - sofa came in a 2 & 3 seater, the harlequin coffee table in square, rectangular & as you mentioned round. The arm chair I have seen photgraphed with or without cushions showing its split wood seat & back. I suspect the 1972 Knoll book had used the Vincent Cafiero armchair image instead of the actual Lewis Butler armchair, that is why I recommended you to confirm the designer of your chairs with the Knoll Museum.

The model number in the Vincent Cafiero tufted office/lounge chair shown in the 1963 vintage Knoll ad I believe is model 180, you can also confirm that with the Knoll Museum.