Robert Defuccio attended the State University of New York and then studied woodworking and furniture design at the School for American Craftsman. He already knew where hewanted to go to work. In 1960, he applied for a position with Knoll in East Greenville, Pennsylvania. His application was accepted and he was assigned to the Design and Development Group.1
DeFuccio was a close collaborator with Don Petitt and Robert Savage in the multi-year development program of the bentwood Petitt chairs, which were introduced in 1966. This would inspire DeFuccio to work on table designs featuring bentwood leg details he designed in 1970 and were approved for production between 1970s and 1971.2 He also designed a variant of these tables with turned hardwood legs of oak, walnut or teak.3
After the table designs, DeFuccio was motivated to design an armchair featuring the perfected bentwood process for the Petitt chair. He chose a sled design for this armchair which was ideal for use with bentwood. This chair was introduced by Knoll in 1974 but was in production for only a few years. The tables remained in production until 1978.4
1. Eric Larrabee and Massimo Vignelli. Knoll Design (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1990), 259.
2. “The DeFuccio Table.” Knoll online archive: https://www.knoll.com/the-archive/.
3. Knoll International Furniture Price List 1973. 99-102.
4. .Knoll International Furniture Price List 1977/78 Contract Residential. 178-179; the DeFuccio chairs were not in this price list. The tables were not in the price list of 5/79.