Berkovich tables

Elmar Berkovich (Hungarian /Netherlands 1897-1968)

Pair of rare ‘Beek’ side tables for ‘t Spectrum. Designed in 1956 and manufactured for only two years.

Price: 2.650 euro

http://www.merzbaufurniture.com

Oak constructivist table

Circa 1930s-40s table / desk

99.5 x 62 x 74.5cm high / solid oak construction.

Dutch oak constructivist table. A simple designed small side table (or desk) that combines classical and geometric block components to form a bold design table with quite an architectural feel to it.

There are some old marks and patina from years of use, but overall it is in good solid condition.

Price: 895 euro

http://www.merzbaufurniture.com

Pander stool

H. Pander & Zonen. (Netherlands 1855-1921)

Small circular modernist stool – completely original.
Dia.36 x 46cm high

Rare stool with original upholstery. It has its original makers label and is stamped ‘H.Pander & Zn’ to the underside alongside a model number.

Price: 760 euro

http://www.merzbaufurniture.com

Jan Slothouber & William Graatsma (NL. Mid-c20th)
Five original modular cubes from the 1970s. Laminated plywood.
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The Dutch duo Slothouber & Graatsma established themselves from the 1950s as artist/designers with the cube form as their key motif around which they developed various principles of cubic construction alongside multiples and variations thereof. Despite its restrictions they admired the cube for its clarity of form. They applied their thinking around it to a variety of objects, and artworks from small jewellery-scale 3d models and games to larger installation works.
Highly driven personalities, they considered themselves as discoverers of ‘the many applications of the democratic system of cubics’; a system that would ostensively act to counter the rise of the expressive individualism in post-WWII culture. (They later established the CCC_the Center for Cubic Constructions as a forum for promoting their ideas).
Due to their diverse and multidisciplinary output they were never to become global names – But they were a highly respected creative team (representing The Netherlands at the Venice Biennale in 1970) and in 1965 the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam honoured them with the exhibition ‘Vier kanten: maat, vorm, kleur, letter’ (Four sides: size, form, colour, letter). Donald Judd for one was a great admirer of their work.

Price: 3,900 euro

http://www.merzbaufurniture.com

Isokon No.1 Stool

Venesta plywood table/stool for Isokon. 1930s

Plywood No.1 table/stool with its accompanying circular tray. Manufactured by Luterma. Both stool and tray are stamped/labelled Venesta.

The British furniture entrepreneur Jack Pritchard managed Venesta the import company for Luterma in England who later formed the Isokon furniture company which most notably employed Marcel Breuer. These tables/stools were distributed in England post 1933 until 1939 exclusively by Isokon alongside designs by Marcel Breuer and Egon Riss.

Although the designer of the stool remains anonymous, in 2004 the art historian Alastair Grieve described a modification of the original Luterma stool (of which this stool is one) when he wrote that the original design was subsequently re-designed by the architect and founder of the Bauhaus Walter Gropius (hired as a consultant to Isokon). The very slight alterations Gropius made was to include sharper curves to the cut-out squares of the stool. Gropius’s drawings for the redesign can reportedly be found in the collection of the V&A Museum, London.

The separate tray placed on top of the stool is unusual and rare in that it is much thinner than all other trays we have seen. This has led to some minor warping over time (which may have been why it was produced later with a thicker rim?) The thinner rimmed tray may suggest that this was an early production or at the least a more limited production?

h.46.5cm x w.44cm x d.44cm

Literature:-

  • Kermik, Juri (2004) The Luther factory: Plywood and furniture 1877-1940
  • Daybelge & Englund, (2019); Isokon and the Bauhaus in Britain
  • Pritchard, Jack (1984); View from a Long Chair: The Memoirs of Jack Pritchard

Price: 3.650 euro

http://www.merzbaufurniture.com

Bumper table

Martin Visser (Nl. 1922-2009)

The bumper table is undoubtedly Martin Visser’s most intriguing design, the baroque translation from 1965 of his table base tz06 from the early 1960s. The development of Martin Visser’s bumper table provides insight into and understanding of his design processes: The table’s main feature is its reversible tripod base, later called ‘Abusir’ – Seemingly simple with the three points on the floor and three points to carry the top (in the history of furniture the tripod table is known to be the most stable structure).

Only two series were produced in very limited numbers due to the technical difficulties of manufacturing the base. Spectrum Furniture (‘t Spectrum) manufactured the table as several versions that varied in height, width, materials and finishes – this version with the white carrara marble top.

Price: 15,000 euro

http://www.merzbaufurniture.com

architectural throne chair

Brutalist / Structuralist chair. Netherlands. Circa 1960s/70s.

Steel & leather/hide.

An interesting architectural chair. Its construction and manufacture lead us to believe that it is possibly a prototype? – Its design reflects the style of post-war structuralist architecture/interiors typical of several Rotterdam architects from the period. (we are still researching the design).

Price: 4,400 euro

http://www.merzbaufurniture.com