Rietveld Easy Chairs for Metz & Co
Photo thanks to Christie’s
Metz & Co is a still existing luxury shop in Amsterdam. They do mainly fashion, but apparently they also sell Cassina and Knoll furniture. Proudly they mention in their history (abbreviated):
- 1740 Founding of Metz & Co by Mozes Samuels.
- 1815 The designation ‘Purveyor to the Royal Household’ was instituted in 1815 by King William I. The Queen may grant businesses the right to display the royal coat of arms with the legend By Royal Warrant Purveyor to the Royal Household’.
- 1890 The 150th birthday celebration in a complete new building the former head office of the New York Life Insurance Company in the Leidsestraat where the company is still located.
- 1930 Gerrit T. Rietveld created his famous cupola on the roof of the Metz-building and created a furniture collections still to be found in museums over the world and in the present collection of the company.
In that period Metz became famous for its designs by Gerrit Rietveld, Bart van der Leck, Sonia Delauny and Alvar Aalto.
Christie’s: In 1972 Rietveld designed these Easy Chairs for Metz & Co. However other sources claim the design being from 1936, so there seems a slight error here.
Today they were auctioned at Christie’s in Amsterdam.
I find this a stunning design which so to see also offers some comfort.
Update. Another name for the chair is Utrecht Chair.