Description
Herman Miller is renowned for its ergonomic office furniture and sleek midcentury designs. But did you know that until 1930, the company produced mainly traditional wood furniture in historic revival styles?
This circa 1920 dresser is one of the finer examples of early Herman Miller craftsmanship. It features solid wood construction with burled walnut veneer, jaw-dropping inlaid wood marquetry, and exquisitely carved moldings and ornamentation.
The dresser comes with a detachable matching mirror which has a Federal style pediment flanking a carved urn.
The top of the dresser displays a field of burled walnut bordered with mitered satinwood and decorated with a half-round federal period fan ending in feathers.
The dresser includes three dovetailed drawers with solid brass floral ring pulls. The top drawer and its sides are flanked by three pairs of carved rectangular acanthus rosettes and adorned with floral swag marquetry.
The bottom two drawers feature an extremely fine marquetry medallion of a lute and urn on a trellis inlaid field within a Greek key border surrounded by a border of mitered satinwood. The drawers are flanked by three pairs of stately festooned onlays. The sides of the drawers also have intricate marquetry of flowers in a vase inside a Greek key border.
The bottom of the chest is accented with reed and ribbon molding and terminates in six tapered bun feet, the front four of which are carved with acanthus leaves.
Overall, the dresser measures 77″ tall, including the mirror. This dresser itself measures 34″ tall, 57″ wide, and 23″ deep. The mirror measures 44″ tall, 34″ wide, and about 2″ thick. The dresser is in excellent vintage condition with minor wear commensurate with age. In particular, please note the small water spots on the dresser top’s shellac finish. The mirror has some minor veneer loss. Please see photos for more details.
Matching chest on chest, night stand, and vanity with mirror and bench also available. Please see other listings or ask for more photos.
