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Lot Essay
"According to the catalogue of the exhibition of Rietveld's work in the Centraal Museum in Utrecht in 1958 -which Rietveld furnished himself- the first bankstoeltje is designed and made by Gerrit Rietveld in 1908.
It was his first experimental modern piece of furniture made with machine-sawn and planed components and systematically sized in multiples of 10 cm: 40 x 60 x 80 cm. I described the chair in Gerrit Thomas Rietveld "Leven Denken Werken", republished in 2010 under the title Gerrit Thomas Rietveld "Life Thought Work".
The chair here on offer comes from the part of Rietveld's household belongings that we have taken over when we moved into his home at Vredenburg 8bis in 1961. The chair stood in the shed on the terrace at the back of the apartment and was used by Rietveld as a saw bench.
The Rietveld Schröder Archive in the Centraal Museum has a drawing of the bankstoeltje by Rietveld. This drawing is inscribed with the address Oudegracht 55 Utrecht. This is where Rietveld's workshop was located since 1933 and the drawing should therefore be dated after 1933. The sizes of the chair on the drawing and of the chair on offer vary: 88 instead of 80 cm. high, 52 instead of 60 cm. wide, 44 instead of 40 cm. deep, seat height 44 instead of 40 cm., armrest 68 instead of 60 cm. high. Rietveld apperantly adapted the measurements to accomodate comfort. At least two of these chairs were executed with further adapted sizes: 85 instead of 88 cm. high, 55 instead of 52 cm. wide, 40 instead of 44 cm. deep, seat height 45.5 instead of 44 cm. and armrest 65 instead of 68 cm. Both are now in the Centraal Museum in Utrecht. Of one is indicated that it dates from 1908 and of the other that the design dates from 1908 and that is was executed by Gerard van de Groenekan in the 1950s (After 1924 Rietveld did not execute any furniture himself).
A bankstoeltje is visible on a photograph from circa 1947. This photo of Rietveld's interior at Vredenburg 8bis shows a staged scene with a table and other chairs which were normally not there. I assume that the chair here on offer was in the shed and could not appear on the photo because it was unpresentable. A bankstoeltje was on a Rietveld exhibition in the Centraal Museum in 1958. It is from this catalogue that the date 1908 and the name bankstoeltje derives.
A bankstoeltje is visible on a photograph of the interior of the Rietveld Schröder house. This photograph dates from the time that Truus Schröder still lived there.
On the underside of the seat that was removable is a drawing of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Hendrik, who reigned from 1898 until 1948. Rietveld can be the one who made the drawing. Between 1904 and 1908 Rietveld attended - as a very talented pupil - an evening course at the Art Association of Industrial Education "The Utrechtsch Museum of Applied Arts", where he took lessons in drawing, proportion, style and ornament knowledge. Assuming he made the drawing, it must have been before he started his own workshop in 1917. Another possibility is that the drawing was added by one of Rietveld's children. Bep (Elisabeth Eskes-Rietveld (1913-1999)), the eldest daughter, drew and painted and received lessons from Charley Toorop in the late 1920s. Assuming she made the drawing, it must have been before 1932 when she was not living at Vredenburg anymore.
In my opinion there is every indication that the chair on offer is the experimental model that he made himself, and of which he subsequently adapted the design for practical use. It was in Rietveld's nature to regard the prototype as outdated and to use it for other purposes where it did not matter if this would cause any damage. With the prototype Rietveld experimented with machine production and with a modular size. The mechanical production method was further applied. The modular sizes were not, as they were unfit to use for a chair. Because there currently is no evidence to the contrary, it may be assumed that this was the first unique 'bankstoeltje'.
When Rietveld moved to Vredenburg 8 bis in Utrecht in 1937, he did no longer have a workshop and started to make maquettes and models at home. For cutting wood, you need a bench to enforce and with one knee you hold on. The armrests of the chair were the proper height and bore the traces and cuts. Rietveld had stained the chair green. This staining was very much damaged and the leather back was no longer present. In the 1980s I asked Gerard van de Groenekan to restore the chair. He then, without consulting me, painted the chair blue, probably because he judged the green colour not to be Rietveld-like and he burned his mark on the underside of the seat. I re-painted the chair in the 'original' green colour. The surface now has a denser structure than with the original staining. I have also fixed the removable seat with a few tacks.
This unique bench seat has an exciting history in which Gerrit Rietveld, Gerard van de Groenekan and I have played a role."
It was his first experimental modern piece of furniture made with machine-sawn and planed components and systematically sized in multiples of 10 cm: 40 x 60 x 80 cm. I described the chair in Gerrit Thomas Rietveld "Leven Denken Werken", republished in 2010 under the title Gerrit Thomas Rietveld "Life Thought Work".
The chair here on offer comes from the part of Rietveld's household belongings that we have taken over when we moved into his home at Vredenburg 8bis in 1961. The chair stood in the shed on the terrace at the back of the apartment and was used by Rietveld as a saw bench.
The Rietveld Schröder Archive in the Centraal Museum has a drawing of the bankstoeltje by Rietveld. This drawing is inscribed with the address Oudegracht 55 Utrecht. This is where Rietveld's workshop was located since 1933 and the drawing should therefore be dated after 1933. The sizes of the chair on the drawing and of the chair on offer vary: 88 instead of 80 cm. high, 52 instead of 60 cm. wide, 44 instead of 40 cm. deep, seat height 44 instead of 40 cm., armrest 68 instead of 60 cm. high. Rietveld apperantly adapted the measurements to accomodate comfort. At least two of these chairs were executed with further adapted sizes: 85 instead of 88 cm. high, 55 instead of 52 cm. wide, 40 instead of 44 cm. deep, seat height 45.5 instead of 44 cm. and armrest 65 instead of 68 cm. Both are now in the Centraal Museum in Utrecht. Of one is indicated that it dates from 1908 and of the other that the design dates from 1908 and that is was executed by Gerard van de Groenekan in the 1950s (After 1924 Rietveld did not execute any furniture himself).
A bankstoeltje is visible on a photograph from circa 1947. This photo of Rietveld's interior at Vredenburg 8bis shows a staged scene with a table and other chairs which were normally not there. I assume that the chair here on offer was in the shed and could not appear on the photo because it was unpresentable. A bankstoeltje was on a Rietveld exhibition in the Centraal Museum in 1958. It is from this catalogue that the date 1908 and the name bankstoeltje derives.
A bankstoeltje is visible on a photograph of the interior of the Rietveld Schröder house. This photograph dates from the time that Truus Schröder still lived there.
On the underside of the seat that was removable is a drawing of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Hendrik, who reigned from 1898 until 1948. Rietveld can be the one who made the drawing. Between 1904 and 1908 Rietveld attended - as a very talented pupil - an evening course at the Art Association of Industrial Education "The Utrechtsch Museum of Applied Arts", where he took lessons in drawing, proportion, style and ornament knowledge. Assuming he made the drawing, it must have been before he started his own workshop in 1917. Another possibility is that the drawing was added by one of Rietveld's children. Bep (Elisabeth Eskes-Rietveld (1913-1999)), the eldest daughter, drew and painted and received lessons from Charley Toorop in the late 1920s. Assuming she made the drawing, it must have been before 1932 when she was not living at Vredenburg anymore.
In my opinion there is every indication that the chair on offer is the experimental model that he made himself, and of which he subsequently adapted the design for practical use. It was in Rietveld's nature to regard the prototype as outdated and to use it for other purposes where it did not matter if this would cause any damage. With the prototype Rietveld experimented with machine production and with a modular size. The mechanical production method was further applied. The modular sizes were not, as they were unfit to use for a chair. Because there currently is no evidence to the contrary, it may be assumed that this was the first unique 'bankstoeltje'.
When Rietveld moved to Vredenburg 8 bis in Utrecht in 1937, he did no longer have a workshop and started to make maquettes and models at home. For cutting wood, you need a bench to enforce and with one knee you hold on. The armrests of the chair were the proper height and bore the traces and cuts. Rietveld had stained the chair green. This staining was very much damaged and the leather back was no longer present. In the 1980s I asked Gerard van de Groenekan to restore the chair. He then, without consulting me, painted the chair blue, probably because he judged the green colour not to be Rietveld-like and he burned his mark on the underside of the seat. I re-painted the chair in the 'original' green colour. The surface now has a denser structure than with the original staining. I have also fixed the removable seat with a few tacks.
This unique bench seat has an exciting history in which Gerrit Rietveld, Gerard van de Groenekan and I have played a role."