William Armbruster / Edgewood

William Armbruster isn't a name you hear very much these days. It's curious since he was in so many of the mid-century design 

bibles: Modern Furnishings for the Home, Furniture Forum, George Nelson Chairs, An Exhibition for Modern Living, 

Good Design, and the list goes on and on.

 Just look at the who he's listed with here on the book jacket of New Furniture.

Armbruster was the designer and owner of Edgewood Furniture in New York City, which he founded in 1947.  The designs seem to have 

mostly been available to the trade only and Edgewood was more focused on commercial contract furniture as time went on.

A letter from Armbruster to Marcel Breuer's peeps. 

Source: Breuer Digital Archives 

Once in a while an Armbruster piece turns up, like this "Dounut Stool" that was at 20th Century Interiors

And this past weekend I saw this lounge chair at Stuff in San Francisco.

The perforated sections are a nice detail and the construction quality is pretty amazing. It's incredibly heavy.

Sadly, in 1969 Edgewood was in financial trouble and had to close.  According to court documents, by 1977 Armbruster was 68 years old,

unemployed, homeless, broke and owed back taxes.