Catalog
© 2021 Todd Merrill
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Merrill & Associates, Inc. 80 Lafayette Street New York, NY 10013 www.toddmerrillstudio.com
in the United States of America
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Todd
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Design: Dallas Dunn
Todd Merrill Studio
For over fifteen years, Todd Merrill Studio has exhibited and purveyed the finest selection of post-war American studio furniture. In 2008, Rizzoli published Merrill’s “Modern Americana: Studio Furniture from High Craft to High Glam”, the first ever authoritative examination of the great studio furniture makers and designers who, from 1940 through the 1990s defined American high style. To celebrate the tenth anniversary, Rizzoli published an expanded edition in 2018, adding 60 pages to his original book. This survey of the period included two additional chapters highlighting the importance of Women Makers and Showrooms.
In 2009, shortly after the initial publication of “Modern Americana”, Merrill launched Studio Contemporary, in an effort to develop and represent the work of an international group of established and emerging contemporary artists. Today, their work is sought after by a wide range of art and design patrons, from collectors and decorators, to curators and museum academics.
While their work may be functional or historically based, each artist brings a fresh perspective and a desire to express more than just decorative influence. With an ever growing range of mediums--from textile to porcelain, to marble and LEDs--their joint curation at Studio Contemporary relies upon their shared drive to push those materials to their absolute aesthetic limits. The result: dynamic, handmade, and unique pieces that contribute to today’s increasingly relevant “grey space” between art and design.
The gallery has progressively cultivated and established new artists, placing their work into private and public collections which include The Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum (New York), The Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), The Museum of Art and Design (New York), The Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), The High Museum of Art (Atlanta), and The Brooklyn Museum (New York), and the Carnegie Museum of Art (Pennsylvania), amongst others.
The gallery exhibits throughout the year at some of the leading art and design fairs in the world. A selection of these includes The Salon Art + Design (New York); Design Miami (Basel, Switzerland and Miami); FOG: Design + Art (San Francisco); the Pavilion of Arts and Design (New York, Paris, Geneva, and London); Collectible (Brussels); Masterpiece (London); Collect (London); Gallery Seoul (Seoul); The International Fine Art & Antiques Dealer Show (New York); Zona MACO (Mexico City); Tajan (Paris); Design Days Dubai (Dubai); Art Wynwood (Miami); Art Toronto (Toronto)
Introduction
Custom Originals is a unique group of bespoke, handmadeto-order seating options designed by Todd Merrill. Merrill, a pioneer dealer of late 20th Century design and author of Rizzoli’s Modern Americana: Studio Furniture from High Craft to High Glam, channels his deep knowledge of the great American designers of the post-war period to create his highly evolved and artful furniture series. Inspired by the late 1940s to the 1970s, Merrill’s works evoke the chic silhouettes and glamorous aesthetics of each era, while offering today’s highest grade of construction and materials.
Proportioned for today’s lifestyle with a focus on comfort and generous scale, Merrill’s designs include the Tufted Series, the Channel Tufted Racetrack Sofa and Sugar Bowl Settee, the Tube Sofa, the Modern American Series, and the Hollywood Mogul Series. Whether reinterpreting a classic sofa into a wrap-around seating arrangement or developing an entirely novel aesthetic, Merrill’s unique eye and unusual techniques have catapulted signature and unprecedented styles, such as the Double Tufted style—composed of three-dimensional “marshmallow” pieces strung together in a stacked tufted back.
Designed for both residential and commerical spaces, the complete line of Custom Originals sofas and sectionals can be scaled down for an intimate setting or scaled up to accomodate spacious interiors.
Merrill works with his clients’ architectural plans and elevations to propose the ideal forms and dimensions to create site-specific furniture tailored to the environment. In addition to customizable sizing, the sectionals and sofas can be made with bespoke fabrics, finishes, gildings, metal plating, and extras like casters and hardware.
THE TUFTED SERIES
A plush and comfortable seating option that can be ordered as a multipart sectional or a single-bed sofa, with customizable dimensions and materials.
Having perfected the tuft in it’s various forms, from square to diamond, Merrill’s Tufted sectionals and sofas defy classic seating options; absent of straight backs, the pieces have been meticulously designed to float in the room rather than be pressed up against a wall. The uniqueness of its forms are articulated by the floating effect of their mirrored bases, which give further lightness and levity to its bold, dynamic shapes.
Each piece in the Tufted Series is an original Todd Merrill Design.
THE TUFTED SERIES
THE DEMI BACK
The Demi Back is the smallest version of the Tufted Sectional. Unlike the larger models, the Classic’s back-support tufts are smaller in scale than the seat tufts, creating a low, sleek aesthetic.
Shown here with the individual base option.
Total Height: 25.5in // 64.77cm
Total Back Tuft: 9.5in // 24.13cm
Seat Height: 16in // 40.64cm
THE STANDARD BACK
The Standard Back is the most universally popular design. Ideal for extra back support and a taller aesthetic while keeping the simplicity of a single tuft.
Shown here with the continuous base option.
Total Height: 30in // 76.20cm
Total Back Tuft: 13in // 33.02cm
Seat Height: 17in // 43.18cm
THE JUMBO TUFT
The Jumbo Tuft features over-scaled, extra large tufts, an ideal proportion for modern comfort and style. Standard tufts are 8 x 8 inches // 20.32 x 20.32cm while the Jumbo Tufted sofa features tufts measuring 9.5 x 9.5 inches // 24.13 x 24.13cm.
Shown here with the continuous base option.
Total Height: 30in // 76.20cm
Total Back Tuft: 13in // 33.02cm
Seat Height: 17in // 43.18cm
THE DOUBLE BACK
The Double Back is the tallest model within the Tufted Series and is Merrill’s most unique design. Featuring two rows of stacked tufting, its unprecedented form is at once sculptural as well as extremely comfortable, providing optimal back support.
Shown here with the individual base option.
Total Height: 34in // 86.36cm
Total Back Tuft: 17in // 43.18cm
Seat Height: 17in // 43.18cm
CORNER BACK CORNER BACK BACK OTTOMAN
HOW THE SOFA / SECTIONAL WORKS
COMPONENTS
Todd Merrill’s Custom Original Tufted Series can be designed as a sofa, a chaise lounge, a love-seat, in an L-shape, or a more open arrangement, with any combination of Ottoman, Back, or Corner pieces. Choices of back height are available in four different styles: The Standard Back, the Demi Back, The Double Back, and The Jumbo Back. Base options include a continuous base for a singular look or individual bases for versatility and mobility.
CORNER OTTOMAN BACK
Ebonized Wood Base
Mirror Polished Brass Base
HOW THE SOFA/SECTIONAL WORKS
BASE OPTIONS FOR SECTIONALS AND SOFAS
Mirror Polished Chrome Base
25.5in 64.77cm
34in 86.36cm
The Demi Back
The Double Back
HOW THE SOFA/SECTIONAL WORKS
OVERALL HEIGHTS FOR SOFAS AND SECTIONALS
30in 76.20cm 30in 76.20cm
The Standard Back The Jumbo Back
THE CURVED BACK
The Curved Back Sectional illustrates an additional option for unique large spaces. Perfect for a commercial lobby or a grand living room.
Total Height: 30in // 76.20cm
Total Back Tuft: 13in // 33.02cm
Seat Height: 17in // 43.18cm
THE WEDGE OTTOMAN
The Wedge Ottoman provides extended seating options in the form of customizable pie-shaped sections for a variety of arrangements. Each quadrant can be custom made to size specifications with the ability to accommodate both stationary and movable options.
THE S-CURVE SECTIONAL
THE TUFTED CLUB CHAIR
This elegant, comfortable, and versatile custom Club Chair can be configured in multiple sizes as part of the Todd Merrill Custom Originals Line.
THE TUFTED SWIVEL CHAIR
This Tufted Swivel Chair allows for the same versatility and customizability as the Tufted Club Chair on a circular swivel base in a variety of finishes.
THE CHANNEL TUFTED SERIES
THE ALUMINUM TUBE SOFA
The Aluminum Tube Sofa seamlessly blends historic elements of early 1920s Bauhaus Modernism, such as Marcel Breuer’s bicycle inspired Wassily chair, with a 1970s Brutalist sensibility. The combination of streamlined maximalism sits perfectly in a 21st Century home.
The elegant low profile of the sofa’s continuous race track back is encased with polished aluminum tube. Rows of channel tufted velvet mimic the aluminum, creating an ergonomic back and seat. The sofa is at once mid-century and contemporary, sculptural and comfortable.
An original Todd Merrill Design
Seat Height: 17in // 43.18cm
Total Height: 31.5in // 80.01cm
Total Depth: 43in // 109.22cm
THE CHANNEL TUFTED RACETRACK SOFA / SECTIONAL
Inspired by Art Deco forms and 1970s luxury, The Channel Tufted Racetrack Sofa / Sectional is a flexible design, available as a solid sofa or in sections to create extended seating options for a variety of arrangements.
Shown here as a curved back sofa, it can also be ordered with a squared back.
An original Todd Merrill Design
Seat Height: 18in // 45.72cm
Total Height: 31in // 78.74cm
Depth: 38in // 96.52cm
THE SUGAR BOWL SETTEE
The latest from Todd Merrill Custom Originals is the Sugar Bowl Settee. A scaled down version of the original Channel Tufted Racetrack Sofa, the settee has a barrel back and clean seamless lines. Perfect for commercial or residential interiors. Paired together the settees form a cozy space for an intimate tete a tete.
Base options include brass and chrome.
An original Todd Merrill Design
Seat Height: 18in // 45.72cm
Total Height: 31in // 78.74cm
Depth: 36in // 91.44cm
HANNES GREBIN FOR CUSTOM ORIGINALS
THE COZY COLLECTION
Berlin based, Bauhaus educated, multi-disciplinary designer Hannes Grebin has created a group of upholstered seating inspired by the questioning of traditional domestic decor. Applying the principals of Cubism to design, Grebin masterfully deconstructs the traditional shapes and detailing of a “dad’s chair” and the “family room sofa” into simplified geometric shapes and interlocking planes. Working with a master upholster in Berlin, the resulting seating is hand-crafted with the highest possible level of materials and workmanship.
He describes the pieces as “living sculptures, which puts the traditional views about comfort and taste into question.” The “dad’s chair” is a wing back style that dates back centuries has been re-analyzed, broken down and reassembled into Grebin’s “Cozy Chair.” It is both fractured and asymmetric but perfectly meeting the demands of ergonomics. Angular and yet cozy, sculptural and yet functional, Grebin has struck a unique balance that makes The Cozy Chair an alluring work of design. The faceted planes meet elegantly giving the chair changing perspectives with each glance. His design is both a deconstruction and commentary on the mechanization of modern life.
Grebin, the son of two architects notes, “Ultimately, I didn’t want to make just furniture. It was much more important for me that although all objects function, the design objects should become objects for discussion, in order to lead the theoretical design discourse to new ways and approaches.”
THE COZY SOFA
Each piece in the Cozy Collection is created to the client’s specifications. Custom dimensions may be accommodated. All fabrics are COM. Leg options are priced based on material, including cast bronze, cast stainless steel, or wood with bronze or brass sabots.
The Cozy Sofa is also available in an L-shape configuration.
Total Height: 38 in // 96.52 cm
Width: 112 in // 284.48 cm
Depth: 45 in // 114.30 cm
THE COZY CHAIR
Total Height: 48.5 in // 123.19 cm
Width: 37.5 in // 95.25 cm
Depth: 35.5 in // 90.17 cm
THE COZY L SOFA
Each piece in the Cozy Collection is created to the client’s specifications. Custom dimensions may be accommodated. All fabrics are COM. Leg options are priced based on material, including cast bronze, cast stainless steel, or wood with bronze or brass sabots.
Total Height: 38 in // 87.31 cm
Width: 102 in // 259.08 cm
Depth: 96 in // 245.75 cm
THE HOLLYWOOD MOGUL
With a unique, asymmetrical design, the Hollywood Mogul is a custom sofa that offers a chaise/daybed aesthetic for optimal lounging. A pair makes and ideal sofa arrangement in any room - they are made to face each other for conversation and relaxation.
Channeling Merrill’s iconic “tufts”, the Hollywood Mogul features diamond interior tufting and sleek clean lines on smooth back and arms. The length of the Hollywood Mogul sofa can be customized to the client’s preference.
An original Todd Merrill Design
Total Height: 36in // 91.44cm
Width: 96in // 243.84cm
Depth: 36in // 91.44 cm
THE CHANNEL TUFTED CLUB CHAIR
An elegant and well proportioned club chair, inspired by vintage design from the 1930’s. The armrests and sides are generously channel tufted for maximum comfort.
An original Todd Merrill Design
Total Height: 30in // 76.20cm
Width: 38in // 96.52cm
Depth: 34in // 86.36cm
THE MODERN AMERICAN SERIES
is Merrill’s contemporary interpretation of works by the great American Modernist designers of the last century. Elegant and demure in design, the Modern American sofas and sectionals offer extreme comfort with down filled cushions. Built with a classic hardwood frame and set on invisible casters, it is an ideal in its proportions and simplicity scaled for contemporary living. This style is available as a sectional or as a single sofa.
THE MODERN AMERICAN SECTIONAL
The Modern American Sectional can be custom made as a larger open seating group, wherein each individual sofa can connect to another, forming an L-Shape, open, and adjustable configuration.
An original Todd Merrill Design
Total Height: 30.5in // 77.47cm
Width: 118in // 299.72cm
Depth: 32in // 81.28cm
THE MODERN AMERICAN SOFA
The Modern American Sofa features sleek arm rests on either side for a well proportioned, elegant single bed seating option. Typical sizing ranges from six to ten feet per the client’s request and space.
An original Todd Merrill Design
Total Height: 32in // 81.28cm
Width: 80in // 203.20cm
Depth: 32in // 81.28cm
