George Nelson, Director of Design at Herman Miller
The influence of George Nelson (1908-1986) on American design goes well beyond the objects he drew himself. An architect by training, a critic and a theorist, he was above all director of design at a manufacturer, Herman Miller, which his choices helped turn into one of the major houses of the twentieth century. His career shows that a catalogue is built as much by selection as by drawing.
Architect, critic, then director of design
Before Herman Miller, Nelson was a journalist and a design theorist. He published widely read texts, studied European architecture and thought about the modern home. In 1945 he became director of design at Herman Miller, a post he held until the early 1970s. His role went beyond drawing: he set a direction, recruited designers and steered production, at a time when the job of art director in furniture barely existed.
Bringing others to Herman Miller
Nelson's most lasting contribution to Herman Miller probably lies in the designers he brought in. It was he who introduced Charles and Ray Eames to the company, whose moulded plywood and then fibreglass furniture changed the twentieth-century chair profoundly. It was also he who recruited Isamu Noguchi and Alexander Girard. Together, these designers formed a collection that is still the core of the Herman Miller catalogue. Nelson himself considered that recognising and welcoming the work of others was part of a designer's job.
The Nelson studio: Marshmallow, Bubble, Ball
Nelson's office, often known as George Nelson Associates, produced several very well-known pieces, and attribution calls for precision. Nelson ran a studio with outstanding collaborators, starting with Irving Harper, who drew several pieces signed with Nelson's name.
The Marshmallow sofa of 1956 is the best-known example: separate round cushions set on a steel frame turn the seat into an almost graphic composition. The idea came from a technical proposal, a machine meant to produce round cushions cheaply, which the studio turned into a piece of furniture.
The Bubble lamps, designed in the late 1940s, are pendants with a metal frame covered in a translucent membrane that gives a soft light. The wall clocks, including the Ball, with the hours marked by wooden balls, belong to a large family of clocks made for the Howard Miller Clock Company and largely drawn within the studio by Irving Harper. It is more accurate to attribute them to the Nelson studio than to Nelson alone, and that is now the practice among historians and manufacturers alike.
Who makes what today
On the vintage market, you need to know which manufacturer made what. The furniture, including the Marshmallow sofa, belongs to Herman Miller. The Bubble lamps were first produced by Howard Miller. Part of the wall clock range designed for Howard Miller is now reissued by Vitra, which holds the rights for the European market. A recent Ball clock therefore carries the Vitra marking, while an older one may carry Howard Miller's. Manufacturer and generation are among the points to check.
Design as a system
Nelson also left a way of thinking. For him, design was less about producing isolated objects than about organising a coherent environment, hence his interest in modular storage, corner desks and furniture that fits together. This approach, together with his role as editorial director, explains why his mark shows in a whole catalogue rather than in a single object, and why the pieces from his circle, his own, his studio's and those of the designers he had produced, sit so well together.
What we check
When a piece linked to George Nelson comes through our hands, we identify the manufacturer (Herman Miller, Howard Miller or Vitra) from the marking and manufacturing details, and tell an early example from a reissue. We then check condition: metal frame, foam and cushions for the furniture, membrane and wiring for the Bubble lamps, mechanism and wooden balls for the clocks.
By
LAPIERRE MARKET
