Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

1938

  • Work on this object began.

2021

2023

2025

  • You found it!

Armchair, Armchair for Samuel and Florene Marx Dining Room

This is a Armchair. It was designed by Donald Deskey and Dorothy Wright Liebes and manufactured by Royal Metal Manufacturing Co. and made for (as the client) Samuel Marx.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from The Art Institute of Chicago as part of A Dark, A Light, A Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes.

It is dated 1938. Its medium is chrome-plated metal and upholstered fabric. It is a part of the Exhibitions department.


Liebes created all the interior textiles for Samuel A. Marx’s residence in Chicago, Illinois, including the subtle and elegant buff-colored silk on this chair, part of a dining set. The restrained palette Liebes used throughout the interior ensured the textiles would not compete with Marx’s important collection of modernist paintings.

It is credited Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Mrs. Florene M. Schoenborn.

Its dimensions are

H x W x D: 86.4 × 53.3 × 45.7 cm (34 × 21 × 18 in.) (each)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition A Dark, A Light, A Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-6.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318807749/ |title=Armchair, Armchair for Samuel and Florene Marx Dining Room |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=6 May 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>