Category: chair history

Chairs by Hendrik Petrus Berlage (1)

Chairs by Hendrik Petrus Berlage - Egyptian Chair inspired
Egyptian Chair for inspiration of Berlage

Chairs by Hendrik Petrus Berlage (1)

Time to share some chairs by Hendrik Pieter Berlage. First photos of the main inspiration for Berlage’s chair designs: An Egyptian Chair.

About Hendrik Petrus Berlage

Berlage Exhibition

Hendrik Petrus Berlage (1856-1934) is an important Dutch Architect who strongly believed in total concepts and therefor was involved in interior decoration and furniture design as well.

Currently there is a Berlage exposition at the The Hague City Museum of Modern Art (Gemeentemuseum Den Haag) with an overview of Berlage’s work, because of the celebration of the opening of the museum – which was a design of Berlage – 75 years ago. Luckily for the chair aficionados there are many chairs from him on display until February 27, 2011. Berlage studied in Zurich and also traveled in the USA in 1911. Therefore it is not strange that he was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Mid 50ies Thonet Mystery Easy Chair – Solved

Mystery Thonet USA Chair IMG_9789

Thonet Industries INC., USA, mid 50ies wood and steel Mystery Chair.

From time to time readers ask me for help identifying a chair. Alas I’m just an amateur, a chair lover, but not so much a chair expert. Sometimes I post the photos and ask my readership for help and sometimes they do give great help.

The Label, or tag, under this mystery chair is interesting

Tag Thonet Industries INC. York USA Mystery Chair

It reads:

Do not remove this tag under penalty of Law
All New Material Consisting of
Foam Rubber
REG No. PA. 3373

This article is made in compliance with in act of Dist. of Col approved July 3, 1926; Kansas approved March 1923; Minn approved April 24, 1929; New Jersey revised statutes 26; 10-6 to 18

Certification is made by the manufacture that the materials in this article are described in accordance with the law

Sold by(blank)

Date of Delivery(blank)

Distributed by: Thonet Industries, INC.
One Park – Avenue New York 16, N.Y.
Factory: York PA

Thonet Industries, INC

I vaguely knew that there has been a large Thonet factory in the USA. I remember reading somewhere about the demolition of the leftovers of such factory. I’m glad the reader sent me this photo, because until now I had thought the US factory was located near New York City. Not true, they had a posh showroom at 1 Park Lane in New York City, NY. The factory was in York, PA, USA.

Via a blog post of the York Blog I’ve now learned that the factory burned down in 1993:

Leftovers from the Thonet Industries INC factory in York PA USA

This 1995 photograph shows the burned out Thonet Industries complex two years after the fire, one of the largest in the past two decades in York County.

After the aside:
It is not clear to me whether Thonet Industries only sold its own product or third parties product as well. It would not surprise me if a lot of history of the US Thonet saga has been lost with the burning down of the factory

Anybody an idea about the chair?

Update:
As per our kind comment below:

Not really a mystery. This modular lounge group #4390 first appears in the Thonet USA catalogues in 1959 and continues until 1972. Available in many configurations, with and w/o arms and table inserts it has wood rails and natural or gold anodized aluminum legs. Your photo is of model #4391 and appears to have the gold anodized legs.

 Update 2:

thonet usOne mistery chair leading to another mistery chair: The one bought by commenter Brian.

The High Back Beach Chairs (Strandkorf or StrandKorb) of Bartelmann

Strandkorb or High Beach Chair by Bartelmann

In an attempt to revive the Classic Scheveningen High Back Beach Chair I blogged about it here and on my significant other blog.

Despite the fact that Google apparently has ousted Chairblog from their indexes after the recent change of hosting company, the photos of the two blog posts still appear on page 1 of a Google photo search. There I discovered Wohn- & Geschäftshaus Bartelmann seit 1903 im Ostseebad Kühlungsborn They also appear as Bartelmann . Com. It appears that Bartelmann has a shop, a B&B and also is one of the oldest producers still in operation of the typical High Back Beach Chairs for the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. The Baltic high back beach chair is more rounded and the North Sea one more angular. If you like the models like I do, I suggest you search Google images for Strandkorf or Strandkorb, which gives results that come near what I meant.

Back to Bartelmann

Wilhelm Bartelmann opened shop as a basket maker October 7, 1870. In 1882 lady Efriede von Maltzahn had asked him to create a beach chair that could protect against too much sun and too much wind. Sun bathing was “not done” in those days in higher circles.
Wilhelm created the first beach chair from willow and cane, mockingly called by some “Upright Laundry Basket”. From there on the business started to thrive. Mind you, after he had created chairs for a Ducal Palace he was allowed to call himself Basket Maker by Appointment.

Here you can see Wilhelm, his wife and 5 children in one of his cane and willow high back beach chairs.

Sam Maloof

I found this excellent 1982 interview with Sam Maloof by Barbaralee Diamonstein – Spielvogel on Youtube.

What a modest and great man and chair designer that was.

The interview is part of the Duke Digital Collections, also on Youtube as Duke archives.

Piano Bench Maria Van De Velde by Henry Van De Velde

Piano Bench Maria Van De Velde by Henry Van De Velde

Piano Bench Maria Van De Velde by Henry Van De Velde

I love the clean lines, the elegance of the back and the architectural form of this Piano Bench.
Learn more about the great architect, designer, and teacher Henry Van De Velde through Henry Van De Velde Foundation.

Like the tea table or occasional table Curt Herrmann, this piano bench dates from 1902. It was verifiable commissioned for the music-room in the flat kept by Karl Ernst Osthaus in the Folkwang Museum he founded in Hagen. Delivered to the drawing-room of the Zeemeeuw House in Scheveningen at almost the same time, these first two exemplars were made at Lösse, Carpenters and Joiners, in Hagen and first by Scheidemantel in Weimar.

Henry van de Velde’s exclusive clientèle viewed itself as a cultural elite and this status consciousness was not least reflected in the commissions given to the Belgian designer. This was a circle in which literary and artistic interests reigned supreme and both classical and modern music were cultivated. Even though van de Velde’s new designs for sculptural concert grand pianos (for Karl Ernst Osthaus and the Weimar Nietzsche Archives) were not so successful, the piano bench was ordered by several clients.

Henry van de Velde together with family – house ‘Hohe Pappeln’, 1912 in Weimar

Helene von Nostitz and Sophie Herrmann, to name two of them, were gifted pianists and so was Maria van de Velde, who before her marriage had wanted to become a concert pianist.

The 1902 piano bench attests particularly eloquently to the artist’s fresh start at Weimar. The fluid ornamental line of the early work he did in Brussels and Berlin has yielded to a dynamic created solely by the tensions of tectonic construction. Van de Velde’s artistic creed, Line is power is echoed eloquently in the harmonious design of this felicitous piece of furniture.

It was made in various natural woods and hardwoods as well as in cream and midnight blue lacquer. Only two have survived: Maria van de Velde’s piano bench (midnight blue lacquer: Ghent Museum for the Applied Arts) and a second of unknown provenance (ebony: private collection in Germany).

Executed in solid beechwood, stained

Dimensions: H: 62 cm, W: 116 cm, D: 47 cm, SH: 47 cm
Design: Henry van de Velde
Extant exemplar: Ghent Museum for the Applied Arts
Manufacturer: ADELTA

via Henry Van De Velde and Bonluxat.