furniture, art & design
20th century design
Pewter biscuit tin
Archibald Knox (Uk 1864-1933)
Pewter & enamel. Circa 1905. Model 0194. 14.5 x 14.5 x 14cm high.
A Liberty & Co. Arts & Crafts / ‘Tudric’ pewter range lidded tin with inset enamels. Designed by Isle of Man designer Archibald Knox. Fully marked to the underside. (It has a knock to one side and one enamel piece is missing)
Price: 1.200 euro
(Attrib.) Josef Hoffmann (Austria 1870-1956)
Model 728 Fledermaus Chairs and table attributed to Josef Hoffmann for J & J. Kohn. Early c20th.
Stained and lacquered beech wood. The chairs have a later Wiener Werkstätte fabric.
The chairs were originally designed for the famous Fledermaus Cabaret and manufactured by the firm of Jacob and Josef Kohn around 1910. In very nice condition.
The beechwood has a warm patina from the oxblood red coloured finish.
These chairs were purchased together with the small cafe table. Although the chairs are unmarked, the table is marked with the Kohn firm label.
Price: Chairs 3.800 euro (pair) Table 1.350 euro
Shiro Kuramata (Japan 1934-1991)
Lacquered and chromed Metal. 1980s
A rare design classic: An umbrella stand designed by Shiro Kuramata for Pastoe in 1986. In a design typical of the Postmodern period it establishes an effective playful synthesis of art and functionality.
The Dutch company Pastoe only produced this model for two years and not many were manufactured during that period.
Price: 2.800 euro
Frank Gehry (Canada 1929-2025)
Frank Gehry “Easy Edges” wiggle chair by Vitra. Labeled underneath and in a very nice original condition. This example is a 1999 production.
The chair was designed in 1972 as part of Gehry’s famous Easy Edges series. It was reissued by Vitra from 1992 as the Wiggle side chair. Created by the renowned architect Frank Gehry this extraordinary chair challenges the conventional notions of form, material and structural dynamic. Crafted from layers of corrugated cardboard, the Wiggle Chair exhibits a delicate balance between strength and flexibility. Gehry’s signature aesthetic make it a standout piece in any space. The chair has a slight twist/lean from use but it has a good warm tone (…that recent production chairs do not have)
Price: 1.700 euro
Vladimir Tatlin (Russia 1885-1953)
Tatlin Chair
Chromed steel tubular frame with black leather upholstered seat. 55cm x 70cm x 80cm high.
Vladimir Tatlin was a Russian and Soviet painter, architect, and stage-designer. Tatlin achieved fame as the architect who designed The Monument to the Third International, more commonly known as Tatlin’s Tower, which he began in 1919. With Kazimir Malevich he was one of the two most important figures in the Soviet avant-garde art movement of the 1920s, and he later became an important artist in the Constructivist movement
Designed by Russian constructivist Vladimir Tatlin (1885-1953) in 1927. The prototype for this chair was made initially in bent cane. From the 1950s it was manufactured by Nikol International, Italy with a tubular metal frame and leather seat.
Price: 1.450 euro
Piet Klaarhamer (Nl 1874-1954)
Pair of oak chairs with green leatherette upholstery. Circa 1917.
The early designs of modernist architect Piet Klaarhamer use simple, rudimentary constructions, and demonstrate an honest use of the materials used.
We have two of these chairs for sale – These important chairs were the first pieces of furniture that Klaarhamer designed that were produced in larger quantities around 1917, (although probably still manufactured in very limited numbers) by company called NV Nederlandse Meubel en Houtwarenfabriek in Zaandam.
Klaarhamer’s designs had a clear influence on his students, including the well-known architects Piet Elling and Gerrit Rietveld.
The design of this particular model (without arms) inspired Rietveld in the design of his well known ‘Military Chair’ in 1923. It is a design that is well documented in the monograph on Klaarhamer written by author/historians Marijke Kuper & Monique Teunissen*. This book details a letter (with a sketch of the chair) by Gerrit Rietveld to the architect J.J.P Oud.
Price: 2,400 euro (one sold / only one available)
http://www.merzbaufurniture.com
*Literature: Piet Klaarhamer Architect en Meubelontwerper. Marijke Kuper & Monique Teunissen, nai010. 2014
Ko Verzuu (Netherlands 1901-1971)
A rare toy chair designed by Ko Verzuu for ADO. Circa 1930s.
plywood 19 x 20 x 20.5cm high (with original cushion). Early brandished mark to the underside (with an early understandable misattribution to Rietveld)
Between 1925 and 1955 Dutch designer Ko Verzuu designed many toys under the influence of the Dutch Modernist De Stijl painters. His designs were inextricably bound up with innovations in art, health care and pedagogy in the first half of the 20th century. In 1920, the sanatorium Berg en Bosch was founded in the sanctuary on the outskirts of Apeldoorn. This sanatorium offered rest and care to tuberculosis patients. Once patients had recovered from their illness, returning to regular working life often proved to be difficult. In order to prepare patients better for their reintegration, the sanatorium developed a modern treatment: occupational therapy. One of the ways this took shape was in the production of wooden toys. These toys were given the name ADO; an abbreviation that initially stood for Arbeid door Onvolwaardigen (Labour by the Deficient), but was wisely changed to Apart Doelmatig Onverwoestbaar (Special Functional Indestructible) in 1962.
Price: 1.200 euro
Gae Aulenti (Italy 1927-2012)
Set of 4 ‘Locus Solus’ chairs for Poltronova, Italy 1960s
55.5 x 54 x 66.5cm high
enamelled black tubular metal frames with perforated seats. This set comes with their original loose waxed cotton cushions with dotted black on grey pattern. The design of these chairs was intended to be a playful take on the classic bentwood design.
Price: 4.400 euro (the set)
[merzbau] 