George Nelson Model 4688 Lounge Chairs, Herman Miller, 1947, W/ Custom Ottomans, a Set

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Early George Nelson for Herman Miller Model 4688 Lounge Chairs with Custom Matching Ottomans, Estate of Marge Scheuer, c. 1946

… Read more Early George Nelson for Herman Miller Model 4688 Lounge Chairs with Custom Matching Ottomans, Estate of Marge Scheuer, c. 1946

This pair of early George Nelson Model 4688 lounge chairs come from the estate of Marge Scheuer, a woman who never did anything halfway. She loved these chairs so much that she not only had them reupholstered, she commissioned a pair of custom matching ottomans-- stained to match, because putting her feet up on just anything was simply not an option. (Relatable.) Flip the set over and the story tells itself: the mismatched construction, hardware, webbing and undersides between chair and ottoman reveal the ottomans as a later, bespoke addition. (Please note, the bottoms have been covered with fresh dust covers in reupholstery. Photos and videos of undersides pre-upholstery are available upon request).

Designed in 1946 and featured on page 50 of the 1947 Herman Miller catalogue, the 4688 was ahead of its time and frankly a little ahead of everyone else’s too. Round, plump and playfully curvy, perched on sabre-style legs, it whispers undertones of Vladimir Kagan’s barrel chairs and hums a few bars of early Harvey Probber. It’s the design equivalent of showing up to a black and white movie in Technicolor.

The set has been masterfully reupholstered in a chunky cream textured loop tweed (cotton wool blend), finished with cognac leather piping and button tufting. The set is giving Chanel tweed sweater that went to Hermes for cognac leather finishing.

We intentionally left the legs un-refinished to preserve their vintage character. Like a great pair of broken-in Levi’s, the patina is the point. That said, if you’re a perfectionist (no judgment, we’ve met us), we’re happy to refinish the legs at no cost to you.

Early 4688s are increasingly rare and hard to come by, and a pair with this kind of storied past is rarer still. A truly stunning set.

Provenance
From the estate of Marge Pearlman Scheuer (1926–2026), New York, NY.

About Marge Scheuer
Born in Brooklyn and raised in New York City and Croton-on-Hudson, Marge Pearlman Scheuer graduated from Swarthmore College with high honors in economics in 1948 and went on to earn a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University. In 1950 she married her Swarthmore classmate Walter Scheuer, and the couple kept a summer home on Menemsha Pond in Chilmark, Martha’s Vineyard, where their longtime neighbors included painter Thomas Hart Benton. Marge spent decades championing New York’s children, serving as president of the Citizens Committee for Children and on the board of the New York City School Volunteer Program, and was a longtime member of Swarthmore’s Board of Managers. For some thirty years she also managed the Henry and Rose Pearlman Foundation, steward of her father’s celebrated art collection. A devoted New Yorker to the end, she passed away at her home in New York City in February 2026 at the age of 99. Her taste, evidently, was as considered as her civic life.

About George Nelson
George Nelson (1908–1986) was one of the founding fathers of American modernism. A Yale-trained architect and influential editor at Architectural Forum, he caught the eye of Herman Miller founder D.J. De Pree with his groundbreaking Storagewall concept in 1945 and was soon named the company’s director of design. Nelson’s impact at Herman Miller was seismic: he brought Charles and Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi, Harry Bertoia and Alexander Girard into the fold, and his own designs, from the Marshmallow sofa and Coconut chair to the Bubble lamps and Platform Bench, defined the look of the American midcentury. The 4688 hails from his very first collection for the company, the moment it all began. See less