Art Deco Style Z Stool by Gilbert Rohde

A vintage chrome Z-stool designed by Gilbert Rohde for Troy Sunshade from SnowdriftAntiques.
 
Gilbert Rohde (1894-1944), whose career as a furniture and industrial designer helped to define American modernism during its first phase from the late 1920s to World War II, is best known today for inaugurating modern design at Herman Miller Inc. His late art deco style furniture is some of the most sought after today.
 
This piece, designed by Rohde is from the 1930s and is known as a Z stool, named for its distinctive shape.  In the early 1930s, these stools were the centerpiece of a Rohde designed chrome furniture line from the company Troy Sunshade. 
 
The seating cover of this stool has been meticulously reproduced with a black vinyl with a slight texture to it. Re-covering of the seats of these stools is common as it is almost impossible to find one in decent shape. The great attention to detail that was paid to reproducing the minor components of its construction is not as common. The circular, wooden base of the seat and most of the padding is original, but has been augmented with additional padding for comfort. This is a very comfortable 3 inch thick seat.
 
If you look at a picture of an original seat, you will notice there is a certain look and construction style that was typically used. Most often the seat was corded on the top and not on the bottom. The vinyl is tucked in back.  Also, when attached to the bottom of the wooden circle, the edges of the fabric were scalloped in order to prevent puckering when tacked down. Rohde stool fabric was always tacked down, not stapled.
 
 Lastly, most of the nails in this piece are the original nails from the seat. The others are vintage styled upholstery nails to preserve the look.
 
The chrome of this stool is in excellent vintage condition. There is some minor wear to the base ring where it sits on the floor as would be expected. There is no rust or corrosion and pitting is extremely minimal. This stool has the rarer and much more comfortable foot rest.
 
The diameter of the cushion is 15” and the stool height is 25”. It weighs about 12 pounds. If you are local to the Denver, CO area, or want to come pick it up, it can save you considerable shipping costs. 
 
This stool is an icon of modern furniture design by one of its masters, Gilbert Rohde.