There is some uncertainty regarding the chronology of the pedestal table series, but it is certain that the chairs were developed before the tables. It has been suggested that Saarinen began designing the chairs around 1953, although Don Petit, Saarinen’s assistant, reportedly stated that the first drawings were made in 1955 and that the final versions of the chairs were completed in 1956.

Work on the tables began after 1956 and represented the last series of furniture designed by Saarinen before his premature death in 1961.

The pedestal furniture collection was Saarinen’s attempt to solve the problem of the “slum of legs” and eliminate visual clutter. From his earliest collaborations with Eames, Saarinen had continued to explore the concept of “organic furniture”, that is, furniture conceived as a single form and in a single material.

Visually, the pedestal collection achieves an organic unity. However, given the technical limitations of the period, Saarinen was unable to produce the series from a single mould and in a single moulded material.

The base was made of cast aluminium because moulded plastic in such a form was not yet strong enough to support a tabletop or the weight of a seated person. Consequently, from this point of view, Saarinen regarded the project as a failure, hoping that one day a sufficiently strong plastic material would be developed to solve the problem without compromising the beauty of the finished object.