Design Moment
A 1930s commission for a newfangled table produced a Modernist masterpiece, writes
The tale behind Isamu Noguchi’s iconic coffee table.
As the wave of Modernism captured the creative imagination in the late 1930s, the president of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, A Conger Goodyear, asked sculptor Isamu Noguchi (above) to design a coffee table for his weekender in Long Island.
The result was innovative in two ways. First, coffee tables were new arrivals in the living room, ideal for the streamlined sofas then finding favour. Joseph Aronson, author of The Encyclopedia of Furniture, defined the coffee table in 1938 as: “A low, wide table now used before a sofa or couch. There is no historical precedent.”
Second, Noguchi’s knee-level newcomer of 1939 wasn’t just any table. Glass-topped on a rosewood base and with sleek, organic lines, it eschewed the right angle. “Everything is sculpture” was Noguchi’s mantra.
Soon, British-born furniture designer and aesthete TH Robsjohn-Gibbings asked Noguchi to pitch him a coffee table for possible US production. The sculptor
showed him an updated ‘Goodyear’, as it was eventually called, but never heard back.
When Noguchi later sighted an ad for a table by Robsjohn-Gibbings suspiciously like his own, he resolved to design another table heavily inspired by the ‘Goodyear’. Thus, he conceived the ‘Biomorphic’ (below), two identical curves of dark wood, one inverted, joined at a right angle and supporting a freeform glass top. In 1947, Herman Miller, needing tables to complement its new-look sofas, put the ‘Biomorphic’ into production.
By the 1950s, it and the coffee-table phenomenon had hit their stride. With
TVs firmly in the picture, low-slung tables accommodated cups and TV dinners without obstructing the screen.
Herman Miller produced the table until 1973, revived it in 1984 and has kept it in production ever since. Vitra launched its version in 2002, the two differing in the placement of Noguchi’s signature, Vitra’s more rounded edge and their timbers.
While the table can be ordered all over the world, Vitra’s main market is Europe, Australia and parts of Asia, says Michael Leisinger of Vitra (Herman Miller focuses mainly on the US). His bestseller is in black ash – “The classic Noguchi version.”
WHAT IT MEANS TO US
While coffee tables are universal, the septuagenarian Noguchi also shows extraordinary stamina. Indisputably the world’s most iconic coffee table, it still looks fresh. But that popularity has also prompted many copies. David Hartikainen, NSW state manager for Vitra agent Space, says $3700 for the real McCoy is money well spent for an enduring classic. “Its sculptural quality borders between art and design. And it’s so versatile. You can pair it with eclectic, traditional or pared-back decor. People have them for 20 to 30 years and they are passed down from generation to generation.”
“There’s no other table like it,” adds Jo Mawhinney, head of retail at fellow agent Living Edge. “I have one in my home – it’s timeless and collectable.”
Sydney interior designer Melissa Collison grew up with a Noguchi in her family home, has used several in projects and now has one in her living room. “It holds a special place in my heart,” she says. “With the glass top, it allows the space to flow and look open, while the base is fluid and timeless. As a young girl, I loved the table’s curved shape, and crawling under it, lying down and looking up through the glass.”