HARVEY PROBBER ROSEWOOD VITRINE

A tall, slender, rosewood vitrine with three glass shelves and an enclosed lower cabinet designed in the 1960s by Harvey Probber for HARVEY PROBBER, INC.  The upper display cabinet is lighted. HARVEY PROBBER was a leading American furniture designer in the middle years of the last century.  He is credited with the invention of sectional (or, as he termed it, "modular") seating and was a pioneer of its application.  The concept stemmed from Probber's conviction that post-war Americans were ready for more flexibility in their homes and lifestyles.  His ideas were popularly embraced and widely adopted among his fellow designers. Born in Brooklyn in 1922, Probber took an after-school job during high school in a used furniture store.  He was inspired to try his hand at sketching ideas for furniture and sold his first design for a sofa at the age of 16 for $10 (roughly $175 in today's money).  By the time he graduated, Probber was marketing his drawings to furniture companies in Manhattan.