Miniature Chest

Designer George Nelson (American, 1908-1986)

Manufacturer Herman Miller Furniture Company

Date1954-1963

Dimensions13 1/2 x 20 1/4 x 12 in. (34.3 x 51.4 x 30.5 cm)

MediumWalnut, stained teak, enamel, brass, porcelain, wallpaper

ClassificationFurniture

Credit LineThe Charles Braton Johnson Family Furniture Fund

Object number

1995.14

Not on View

Label TextThis cabinet is part of a line of miniature cabinets based upon designs by George Nelson and handmade by a Michigan craftsman for the Herman Miller Furniture Company of Zeeland, Michigan. Nelson, design director for Herman Miller, pioneered modular storage systems in the 1950s. The miniature cabinet is part of the “Rosewood” collection, the second group of storage pieces that Nelson designed for the company. While some of those cabinets had rosewood veneers, others, like this one, substituted teak for the rosewood. The interior of the storage cabinet is lined with Marbalia wallpaper designed by Erwine Laverne, who from the 1920s through the early 1960s was known for his faux-marble paintings and wallpaper.