'MILITARY CHAIRS', A PAIR OF CHAIRS, designed by G.Th. Rietveld, the frame formed of ten black painted wooden billets, four of them square section, the other six rectangular, with rectangular wooden plywood seat and backrest, the backrest seat at an angle, the elements held together with nails on the seat and nuts and bolts elsewhere, (overpainted in black)(1920s) (2)

Details

'MILITARY CHAIRS', A PAIR OF CHAIRS, designed by G.Th. Rietveld, the frame formed of ten black painted wooden billets, four of them square section, the other six rectangular, with rectangular wooden plywood seat and backrest, the backrest seat at an angle, the elements held together with nails on the seat and nuts and bolts elsewhere, (overpainted in black)(1920s) (2)

Provenance

These chairs from a set of four and originally part of a larger suite, were acquired by the parents of the present owner in circa 1935 from the estate of the deceased clergyman Guus van Dijk. Van Dijk practised in Surhuisterveen, a small village in the province of Friesland.

Lot Essay

The chairs offered for sale here bear close resemblance to the chairs featuring on a drawing by Rietveld which is at the present at the Schröder Archief in the Centraal Museum, Utrecht. The drawing mentions that the furniture was designed for a patron in Surhuisterveen. It can therefore be assumed that these are the same chairs. The measurements of the chairs on this drawing relate very closely to those of the chairs in the present lot. The triangular strengthening supports below the seat do not seem to appear on the drawing, it seems they have been added later.

We are grateful to Marijke Küper of the Centraal Museum, Utrecht for her help in cataloguing this lot.

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