20th Century Icons & Props | Casey Godrie Design & Consulancy

Bertoia, Harry

(Italy, 1915 – 1978)

At the age of 15, Harry Bertoia emigrated to the United States. He studied at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills and later became a painting instructor there. At the same academy, where Eero Saarinen was director, he met Florence Knoll. Together with Charles Eames, he established a metalworking studio. Initially, he created furniture for Eames in California for a while, but later, with Hans and Florence Knoll, he had the opportunity to express himself. In his studio in Bally, Pennsylvania, he experimented and designed furniture, using the structural techniques of sculptors as his starting point. He “braided” metal wire into basket shapes and, in 1952, presented the successful Bertoia Collection series for Knoll in the Madison Avenue showroom. He continued creating metal wire sculptures until his death in 1978.

BeBoB was founded with a focus on recycling and started as a foundation, not profit-based.
For almost 40 years, it has specialised in collecting and selling midcentury design, focussing on the right matches more than how to get the best profit.
BeBoB charges reasonable prices for vintage and collector’s items.

Vintage Prices are approximately 35% to 65% of the new-to-order price, if items are still new in production. If not anymore in production they become collectibles.
Collectibles are also the original pieces from the design period of the items, which are still in production and are more expensive, but often a good investment out of scarcity.
BeBoB charges reasonable prices for vintage and collector’s items.