A NICKEL-PLATED TUBULAR STEEL COFFEE TABLE

LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE, EXECUTED BY BERLINER METALLGEWERBE JOSEPH MÜLLER, BERLIN, FOR PHILIP JOHNSON'S NEW YORK APARTMENT, CIRCA 1930

Details

A NICKEL-PLATED TUBULAR STEEL COFFEE TABLE
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, executed by Berliner Metallgewerbe Joseph Müller, Berlin, for Philip Johnson's New York apartment, circa 1930
The tubular steel frame with x-shaped base, the legs joined at the top by flat braces, supporting a circular glass top
24½in. (62.2cm.) high, glass top 23 5/8in. (60cm.) diameter

Provenance

Philip Johnson
424 East 52nd Street apartment
230 East 49th Street apartment
241 East 49th Street apartment
9 Ash Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Literature

Architectural Forum, December, 1943
Elizabeth Mock, Built in The USA--Since 1932, 1945, pp.46-47
Hilary Lewis and John O'Connor, Philip Johnson, The Architect in His Own Words, 1994, pp. 20-21, pp. 26-27

Lot Essay

The design for this model dates to 1927; the form was probably first seen at the Weissenhofsiedlung. The Mies Atelier ledgers at the Museum of Modern Art list three tables of this design ordered for Philip Johnson. All of the tables were ordered with black wood tops, according to the ledger records. One of the tables was ordered for Johnson's mother, two for Johnson's own apartment (one of these two was later modified in height). The original wood top of the present example has been replaced with a glass top.