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Pipsan Saarinen Ficks Reed Sol-Air Table  

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dtoveyarch
(@dtoveyarch)
New Member
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 2
04/06/2020 11:41 pm  

I picked up this table a couple of years ago and the initial search since it has a Ficks Reed label suggested it was part of the Sol-Air line designed by Pipsan Saarinen. I've not seen this specific table, rather the standard redwood slat tables with two rod hairpin legs. This table has a glass mirror top insert and three rod hairpin legs. I've attached some pictures. Is this an early example or a prototype that never made it to production?

Thanks!

1591306899-IMG_6003.jpg

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(@deleted)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 973
05/06/2020 7:35 pm  

Sounds like a question for someone at the Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield, MI (probably closed right now due to the pandemic)

https://cranbrookartmuseum.org/2014/03/31/pipsan-the-lesser-known-but-no-less-impressive-saarinen-sibling/

1591378514-Sol-Air002-814x1024.jpg

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mark737
(@mark737)
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Joined: 2026 years ago
Posts: 877
05/06/2020 9:37 pm  

Funny, I had never heard of Pipsan Saarinen-Swanson until about two weeks ago when I acquired a pair of these bar stools attributed to her and husband J. Robert Swanson and their firm Swanson and Associates.  In researching these I came across a lot of info on the Sol-Air line, but not much else.  None of the ads or articles for Sol-Air shows these bar stools or the OP's table, so maybe they are from less popular collections, or later editions to Sol-Air that didn't get much press.    

The second photo shows a Sol-Air dining table and chairs .  The third photo is a 1947 ad by an LA furniture store for the "Saarinen-Swanson Modern" collection; it doesn't mention which company made it.   

1591385839-Pip.jpg
1591385882-SolAir-PA1953.jpg
1591385920-Saarinen-ad.jpg

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(@deleted)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 973
05/06/2020 10:47 pm  

Pipsan Saarinen also co-designed with her father Eliel a line of modular casegoods for Johnson Furniture in the 1930s.

Mine are all still in intensive care unit waiting to be refinished.  Except for some minor veneer repair, most of the damaged veneers had all been replaced.

1591390041-20200605_1632021.jpg
1591390113-20200605_1635392.jpg
1591390165-20200605_1637542.jpg

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mark737
(@mark737)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 2026 years ago
Posts: 877
05/06/2020 11:15 pm  

Love the pulls on those.  There is a lot of info, including catalogs, for Flexible Home Arrangements on the Grand Rapids Public Museum website, which is a great resource for furniture research. 

https://grpmcollections.org/Detail/objects/175773


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dtoveyarch
(@dtoveyarch)
New Member
Joined: 5 years ago
Posts: 2
08/06/2020 8:02 pm  

Thanks Design Addict community so much for your help! I will contact Cranbrook to see if they can be of assistance. And Mark, thanks for the link to the Grand Rapids Public Museum site. We lived for a time in Grand Rapids (Furniture City!), but no longer do so a quick trip to the museum is out of the cards. 


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