Essential Design 
25 April 2024
Essential Design 
125

Hugh Acton

Rare shelving system

Hugh Acton, Inc.
USA, c. 1960
walnut, aluminum, glass, enameled steel, laminate 87 h × 114 w × 16¾ d in (221 × 290 × 43 cm)
estimate: $2,000–3,000
result: $8,190
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Shelving system is comprised of four bays with five vertical supports, seven shelves, two wide cabinets with sliding doors, one wide drop-down desk with one drawer and divided storage, and six smaller cabinets with six drawers and mixed storage. Applied manufacturer's decal to interior of six cabinets 'Hugh Acton Birmingham, Mich.'

This work will ship from Chicago, Illinois.

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The Designs of Hugh Acton

Hugh Acton had a prodigious career as an industrial designer, creating many works for schools, homes, libraries and offices, bringing an American craft ethos and a Scandinavian mind for simplicity to everyday spaces. From his home studio in Michigan, Acton created numerous iconic and accessible modernist designs over the course of five decades. 

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Image courtesy of the Hugh Acton Papers at the Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan.

It has been my guiding principle, to simplify until everything is eliminated except the necessary.

Hugh Acton


Original advertisement for Hugh Acton's shelving unit

Hugh Acton 1925–2018

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Hugh Acton was an artist and designer, based primarily in Kalamazoo, Michigan, working in a style that blended the best of the American craft tradition and Scandinavian mid-century design. He is most known for his pioneering Acton Stacker (the first stackable chair with arms) and his epochal wood and metal slat bench.

Acton was born in 1925 in Kansas City, Missouri and soon after adopted by a family who owned a farm and ranch in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. From a young age, he showed a penchant for building things and his time spent on the farm would influence his design ethos of simplicity in form and material.

Auction Results Hugh Acton

Hugh Acton

sofa

estimate: $5,000–7,000

result: $5,313

Hugh Acton

Executive lounge chair

estimate: $1,500–2,000

result: $3,810

Hugh Acton

prototype bench

estimate: $2,000–3,000

result: $3,500

Hugh Acton

Bench

estimate: $1,000–2,000

result: $2,772

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