  |
 |
|
|
|
|
10-Feb-08 |
|
|
Who was Arthur Umanoff?
I know the name because he designed a bunch of wonderful wrough iron, wood and rattan pieces of furniture for Raymor (I have the bar), and I think he was involved with George Nelson Associates, but I'm not absolutely sure.
I find no biographies on the web (isn't it typical?) or on Wikipedia (also typical...few designers are there).
Can anyone help?
Many thanks.
|
|
 |
posted by
barrympls
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11-Feb-08 |
|
|
Here's 3 examples
I know he designed some cool wrought iron, wood and rattan pieces for Raymor (see below) but I think he also did a series of clocks for George Nelson Associates, made by Howard Miller.
I don't know how long he designed for Nelson; anyone know his story?
|
|
|
posted by
barrympls
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11-Feb-08 |
|
|
I would also like to know...
I would also like to know more about this designer...
The rattan & wrought iron bars, chairs and stools are the only designs I have seen attributed to him, except the clocks produced for Howard Miller & Geo Nelson Associated.
I love the Umanoff bars, but my girlfriend thinks any alcohol related furniture is cheesy... I would love to have one of Tony Pauls drink carts as well. Anyone wants to sell one?
|
|
|
posted by
alexandersforum
edited on 11-Feb-08 03:38 PM [edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11-Feb-08 |
|
|
NOTHING
in the design encylopedia by Byars pub by M.O.M.A...and its extensive,800 plus pages.
|
|
|
posted by
azurechicken
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11-Feb-08 |
|
|
I'm not surprised....
There's lots of good designers who have fallen through the cracks as regards to encyclopedias and even here at Design Addict.
Not much about
Paul McCobb
Irving Harper
Arthur Umanoff
Londi (the guy who designed the Bitossi stuff)
|
|
|
posted by
barrympls
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
12-Jun-11 |
|
|
Question for Straylight
I like (edit: now have sitting in my dining room) that Umanoff bar cart that was posted some time back (see link). I've seen it and some similar wine racks advertised as straight up McCobb or a hybrid attribution. Other than the similarity with some of McCobb's designs is there some other connection between the two that explains the overlap? Straylight, would you be able to shed some light on this by chance?
Edit: Google search on Umanoff is fruitless. I know he used to design for Shaver Howard based on Straylight's previous posts. The name of the company changed to Johnston Casuals in 1981 (I like Shaver Howard better). I'm going to give them a ring on Monday.
http://www.designaddict.com/design_addict/forums/index.cfm//...
|
|
|
posted by
SX-70
edited on 12-Jun-11 03:56 AM [edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
12-Jun-11 |
|
|
|
|
|
posted by
vintage damage
edited on 12-Jun-11 06:29 AM [edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
12-Jun-11 |
|
|
No crossover
There is no information to suggest that Paul McCobb and Arthur Umanoff ever even met let alone had any kind of working relationship.
As best I can determine the Paul McCobb attribution for the Bar Carts and Wine Racks was entirely spurious and manufactured out of thin air.
It was probably based, at least in part, on the fact that Paul McCobb did do work in iron in the early 50's and that much of it is very poorly documented (this is no longer the case I now have full documentation for these product lines).
Wishful thinking plus poor scholarship...
The current form of hybrid or dual attribution seems to be the product of people not being willing to let go of the their previously held notions but also being unable to deny the facts, so now they say Umanoff and mention McCobb in the same breath.
|
|
|
posted by
straylight
edited on 12-Jun-11 06:53 PM [edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
13-Jun-11 |
|
|
ice bucket?
Thanks Straylight. I really appreciate the insight you bring to the forum. I love this damn forum!
I'm assuming an ice bucket drops down into the hole. Haven't seen any pics with one though. Should be fun to roll around at the next gathering.
|
|
|
posted by
SX-70
edited on 13-Jun-11 12:33 AM [edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
13-Jun-11 |
|
|
Isn't it amazing
that there's no biographical information on Arthur Umanoff to be found?
Similarly, there's precious few mid-century designers represented on Wikipedia!
|
|
|
posted by
barrympls (USA)
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
13-Jun-11 |
|
|
A brief history of Arthur Umanoff
Umanoff graduated from Pratt University in the early 50's
His very first furniture designs were produced by Post Modern Ltd a company he was a partner in in the early 50's. At the very start of his career he was involved in all phases of the design process from concept to prototyping and use testing through to merchandising and marketing. These Post Modern Ltd designs were marketed and distributed by Elton, along with work by Tony Paul.
In 1954 he started designing for Shaver Howard producing the Wrought Iron and Wooden Slat chairs, tables bars and bar carts for which he is best known. He will continue designing for Shaver Howard through to the 70's.
In 1961 Storkline Inc. took Umanoff's designs for Shaver Howard and produced them in reduced scale as children's furniture, the furniture line was called "Little Shavers". Umanoff got a little flack in the press for this line as included amongst the pieces was a miniaturized version of one of his wrought iron and rattan bars. Umanoff defended this saying that it was a "milk bar"
His work with Madison Furniture Industries starts in 1963.
His clock designs for the Howard Miller Clock Co. first appear in 1964
During the 70's his designs are produced by an increasing number of companies including Directional, Thonet, Dillingham Furniture, Rouse/Jackson and David Morgan.
He was very good friends with Tony Paul and Ben Seibel.
http://www.arthurumanoff.com
|
|
|
posted by
straylight
edited on 23-Aug-11 08:02 AM [edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
13-Jun-11 |
|
|
Excellent bio
Thanks a lot. So, those 1954 wrought iron and slat wood pieces he designed for Shaver were the ones that were distributed by Raymor?
|
|
|
posted by
barrympls (USA)
edited on 13-Jun-11 02:00 PM [edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
13-Jun-11 |
|
|
The room divider and...
The room divider and candelabra have always been two of my favorite Umanoff designs.
As an aside, I once found a Umanoff bar (full size...not the cart) in the garbage about 2 blocks away from my apartment. Not knowing what else to do, I literally bent over, hauled it up onto my back. I somehow managed to get it to the courtyard of my building-where I nearly collapsed. Now its sitting in an attic storage space waiting to eventually find a home.
|
|
|
posted by
jesgord (USA)
edited on 13-Jun-11 02:20 PM [edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
13-Jun-11 |
|
|
Raymor Distribution
Much of Arthur Umanoff's 50's and 60's output was distributed Raymor. He was one of Irving Richards stable of designers for this time period along with Tony Paul and Ben Seibel. This includes the wrought iron and slatted wood work he did for Shaver Howard and the Haiitian taverneau wood trays amongst others.
Http://umanoff.blogspot.com
|
|
|
posted by
straylight
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
13-Jun-11 |
|
|
milk bar
Milk bar-hilarious!
Great info thanks
|
|
|
posted by
khus
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
13-Jun-11 |
|
|
|
|
|
posted by
mario
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
14-Jun-11 |
|
|
|
|
|
posted by
Killian (IRL)
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
14-Jun-11 |
|
|
Mario's image
In case anyone is wondering the image posted by Mario, is an Elton ad from 1953, which, unless I miss my guess is taken from page 149 of the August 1953 issue of Interiors. It depicts a tall boy and a serving cart designed by Arthur Umanoff as well as a lamp and a chair designed by Tony Paul.
The tall boy and the chair were included in the 1953 Museum of Modern Art Good Design Exhibition.
The small table in front of the chair is not a table at all but an ashtray designed by Tony Paul (per LoriF, Tony Paul's granddaughter and operator of the www.tonypauldesigns.com website). Please see her comments later ion this thread.
*Edited to include info about Tony Paul ashtray 6-17-11
|
|
|
posted by
straylight
edited on 17-Jun-11 07:40 PM [edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
14-Jun-11 |
|
|
Straylight
I hope this doesn't mean that you are wandering away from The McCobb book project to research Umanoff. Any news on that front? It has been a while.
|
|
|
posted by
glassartist (USA)
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
14-Jun-11 |
|
|
real Umanoff?
Are these arthur umanoff?
I have seen them all over the net and someone on ebay is selling them as arthur umanoffs but I am unsure if they are in fact designed by him or cheap modern knock offs being wrongly attributed.
|
|
|
posted by
OregonPicker
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
14-Jun-11 |
|
|
McCobb book project
The greater portion of the research is completed to my satisfaction, the first few chapters have been sketched out and mostly written.
How to handle the big sections on the Planner Group and the Directional collections still needs to be worked out.
Honestly I could do a book just on the Planner Group alone (something which has been tossed back and forth a bit here amongst those involved closely with the project but no decision has been made thus far)
There's an immense amount of information that I have collected spanning the full 20 years of McCobb's active career in design
It's coming along...
http://paulmccobb.blogspot.com
|
|
|
posted by
straylight
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
14-Jun-11 |
|
|
|
|
|
posted by
straylight
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
14-Jun-11 |
|
|
|
|
|
posted by
OregonPicker
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
15-Jun-11 |
|
|
Vintage 50's
OregonPicker
The chairs are of 1950's vintage and of no particular designer provenance.
Not everything was made by someone special or important.
The greater percentage of mid-century furniture was not designed by anyone of note...
|
|
|
posted by
straylight
edited on 15-Jun-11 04:08 AM [edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
15-Jun-11 |
|
|
@ Oregon
I've seen a pair of these locally (east coast) that are marked "Tropic Cane" (I think I have the spelling correct)and I've seen some other chairs by the same company at a shop in DC. They are good, heavy, solid chairs.
|
|
|
posted by
loft24
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
17-Jun-11 |
|
|
Mario's photo
Hiya Folks
I got a tweet today that there was a Umanoff discussion and photos posted of Umanoff deisgns, as well as a photo of a Tony Paul lamp. Just my two cents ..
Straylight .... You are indeed correct that that small table is TP, but it isn't a table at all, it's an ashtray!!.
I have a b&w photo of this ashtray, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how to upload it!!
Best,
Lori :-)
|
|
|
posted by
LoriF
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
29-Jun-11 |
|
|
coat rack opinions?
Any thoughts on this coat rack posted a while back. It has the look of these guys that worked in this medium: Umanoff Tony Paul, Ben Seibel...
http://www.designaddict.com/design_addict/forums/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread_show_one/thread_id/7995/
Or just search the forum under Tony Paul Coatrack (spelled wrong)
Thanks for any thoughts
Khus
http://www.designaddict.com/design_addict/forums/index.cfm//...
|
|
|
posted by
khus
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
29-Jun-11 |
|
|
another hook added
That link worked. I don't trust my novice computer skills.
Am getting the missing hanger restored/welded this week. Have it shaped and wooden ball stained and ready to go.
|
|
|
posted by
khus
edited on 29-Jun-11 07:13 AM [edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
24-Sep-11 |
|
|
|
|
|
posted by
mattandcecilia
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
26-Sep-11 |
|
|
Umanoff table
I picked this one up at a yard sale, and sold it before I figured out the designer. Live and learn!
|
|
|
posted by
diors
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
03-Mar-12 |
|
|
Umnaoff Swing Chair
Just picked this up last week at a Florida flea market for $20.
(edited by DA - link removed - no advertising on the forum please)
|
|
|
posted by
Dead50s
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
27-Jun-12 |
|
|
Which is it?
Okay, I need help with this design. I see antique dealers attributing this scroll-style, iron furniture to Saletrini in one ad and then to Arthur Umanoff's "Grenada Collection" in another.
I have a bar and a matching swivel bar chair in the scroll style. The bar originally looked exactly like Umanoff's other bars (as seen on 1st Dibs) plus the scroll design all down the front. However, the wood structure within it was destroyed from years of neglect and I chose not to replace it. I just put in glass shelves and let the iron be the focal point.
Anyway, I sure would like to know why they keep saying this scroll design was Umanoff's design one minute and Salterini the next. I personally think it is more than likely Umanoff's design because the bar design and bar chair is the same base style as all of his other bars and chairs.
Anyone have any differing opinion of more detail about Umanoff and Salterini?
Thanks.
|
|
|
posted by
MCMmadness
edited on 27-Jun-12 08:22 PM [edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
28-Jun-12 |
|
|
|
|
|
posted by
Killian (IRL)
[edit]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
