GUEST
We bought the desk in about 1951-52. We ordered it from Grand Rapids, Herman Miller factory. And I understand it was designed by Charles Eames.
APPRAISER
How much did you pay for it?
GUEST
About $500, which was an enormous amount.
APPRAISER
What would have made you spend $500 on a desk in 1952?
GUEST
Well, we were very much in love with the Charles Eames designs, had a couple of his chairs, the whole idea of it being very modern and very cutting edge and up-to-date at that time-- it was very appealing.
APPRAISER
Now, you're right to say that this is a desk that was marketed by the Herman Miller Company out of Zeeland, Michigan.
GUEST
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER
However, the designer of the desk is not Charles Eames.
GUEST
Oh, really?
APPRAISER
It is George Nelson.
GUEST
Oh.
APPRAISER
Now, Nelson was the director of the Miller Company for years, from the '40s on, and, uh, he is really one of the finest American designers of the 20th century. There's a nice investigation of materials. Uh, we have a blonde mahogany wood, uh... there's a great leather surface on the top, and then also these doors, and then, metalwork in... in the legs, and also, this kind of fun Pendaflex file. You've sat at this desk. How comfortable is it?
GUEST
It's a great desk to work at, really, because everything is at your fingertips.
APPRAISER
Show me some of those things that you might...
GUEST
Well, this opens up, and it was back in the times before computers, and we had, at one time, a portable typewriter that you could attach on here and then it would be down in the well.
APPRAISER
Right.
GUEST
And it has a lot of little storage areas in here. This is for paper and stuff...
APPRAISER
Yes, as well as these storage areas along the top. So George Nelson cared about you sitting at your desk, wanted to make sure that you had everything at your fingertips. The desk is in very original condition. It looks very good to me-- original leather top. It's got a little surface wear on it, but it's just the way these things should look. You want to see some age imparted to them. Well, we're seeing these things at auction, estimated really, I would say, in the $6,000-to-$8,000 range.
GUEST
Oh, really? Wonderful! That's great.
APPRAISER
Ten years previous, you could have found it, you know, on a street corner in Manhattan. No one would have cared.
GUEST
Well, I'm glad we held on to it. That's terrific-- thank you very much.
Passport
Follow Us