Vintage diamond armchair by Harry Bertoia for Knoll, 1952s

After working for Eames until 1950 and contributing in particular to the creation of the Wire chair, the sculptor Harry Bertoia creates for Hans and Florence Knoll the Diamond chair in 1952 which is a strong and immediate success. This iconic design chair is composed of a steel wire mesh structure supported by thin metal legs. Its manufacture was initially manual: each wire bent by hand before being welded and chromed (sometimes covered with white, black or colored rilsan). According to Harry Bertoia: "This chair is a study in space, form, and metal. If you look at it, it is made mostly of air, like a light sculpture. Space flows through it." The five chairs in the Bertoia collection for Knoll are all based on the same manufacturing principle: Bertoia Side Chair (table chair: 1952), Bertoia Barstool (bar stool: 1952), Bertoia Bird Lounge (lounge chair and ottoman: 1956) and Bertoia Asymmetric (asymmetrical chaise longue: 1952).