Gilbert Rohde Paldao Dining Room Suite for Herman Miller

The complete suite includes the dining table with two 14 inch extension leaves, two armchairs, four side chairs, a long serving cabinet, and two upright china cabinets. The chairs have been upholstered in deep green mohair with contrasting piping. The green is repeated in the leather and brass treatments on the table base and on the bases of the matching case pieces, giving the entire suite a beautifully unified appearance.

The cabinet work is especially impressive. The long buffet offers excellent storage, with drawers in the center and shelving at the sides. The china cabinets have sliding glass doors above and lower storage behind matching doors. The scalloped cabinet doors are fitted with stylized carved wooden handles, a detail that gives the suite a strong modern character. The set has been professionally redone at some point and is in excellent condition, making it both highly usable and visually outstanding.

American  [1894 - 1944]

Gilbert Rohde was one of the pioneers of American Modern design. Starting in the late 1920's, Rohde designed furniture for clients and his own furniture retailed by others. In 1930 he designed a line of furniture for Heywood Wakefield and beginning in 1930 until 1944 he designed for Herman Miller Company, using a variety of new materials and techniques. While Rohde designed for several other furniture manufacturers his work for Herman Miller remains his best work and some of the best work of the period. Rohde's designs for clocks for the Herman Miller Company and lamps for the Mutual Sunset Lamp Company are classics of the Art Deco era.