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Lot Essay
Piet Kramer (1881-1961) is, together with Michiel de Klerk, the most important architect and designer of the Amsterdam School. Among his architectural achievements are the Scheepvaarthuis in Amsterdam (1913-1916) which he designed together with J.M. van der Mey and Michiel de Klerk, some villas in "Park Meerwijk" in Bergen (NH) (1917-1918) and the department store "De Bijenkorf" in The Hague (1924-1926).
Kramer's furniture and interior designs cover a period of more than thirty years. During his apprenticeship at the office of the architect J.M. van der Mey (1902-1916) he already became familiar with furniture design. In the same period he also worked for a short time in the furniture workshop of K.P.C. de Bazel. The earliest examples of Kramer's furniture designs we know of, are the pieces of furniture he designed in circa 1914 for the interior of his architectural project for the Marinehuis in Den Helder. His last pieces of furniture date from 1946.
The buffet, which is offered for sale here, bears many of the characteristics Kramer developed in his furniture from 1917 onwards. The designs are compact and are derived from egg-, triangular-, and trapezoid shapes and have the centre of gravity at the base. As ornamentation zigzag, shark's tooth and wavy motifs are used. The furniture was often made out of stained and veneered woods in various dark contrasting colours. Furthermore zoomorphic elements, which he also used in this architecture, can be recognized.
The image he applied in the buffet is that of a long-eared owl. The characteristics of this bird of prey, being a large head, a small flat face with raptorial beak and large eyes directed forwards and beset by a disc of radiating feathers, large ear-feathers and strong claws, are all to be traced back in the design.
Kramer's furniture and interior designs cover a period of more than thirty years. During his apprenticeship at the office of the architect J.M. van der Mey (1902-1916) he already became familiar with furniture design. In the same period he also worked for a short time in the furniture workshop of K.P.C. de Bazel. The earliest examples of Kramer's furniture designs we know of, are the pieces of furniture he designed in circa 1914 for the interior of his architectural project for the Marinehuis in Den Helder. His last pieces of furniture date from 1946.
The buffet, which is offered for sale here, bears many of the characteristics Kramer developed in his furniture from 1917 onwards. The designs are compact and are derived from egg-, triangular-, and trapezoid shapes and have the centre of gravity at the base. As ornamentation zigzag, shark's tooth and wavy motifs are used. The furniture was often made out of stained and veneered woods in various dark contrasting colours. Furthermore zoomorphic elements, which he also used in this architecture, can be recognized.
The image he applied in the buffet is that of a long-eared owl. The characteristics of this bird of prey, being a large head, a small flat face with raptorial beak and large eyes directed forwards and beset by a disc of radiating feathers, large ear-feathers and strong claws, are all to be traced back in the design.