Gerrit Thomas Rietveld

Wessel Couzijn and Pearl Perlmutter, Holland
Thence by descent

Daniele Baroni, The Furniture of Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, Woodbury, NY, 1977, p. 159
Martin Eidelberg, ed., Design 1935-1965:  What Modern Was, Montreal, 1991, p. 41
Peter Vöge, The Complete Rietveld Furniture, Rotterdam, 1993, p. 141
Ida van Zijl, Gerrit Rietveld, London, 2010, p. 197

Overall in very good original condition. It appears at some early point in the chair’s history, there was a layer of paint sprayed to the top surfaces. The original paint appears underneath the later coat. The chair is stable condition with some losses and rubbing to the painted edges as seen in the catalogue photograph, some of which reveal the original color. The seat with some shallow surface scratches. This chair has remained in the family of the original owner and has been sensitively maintained. The chair is a superb example of a rare Rietveld design, with related examples in significant museum collections.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Plywood chair design was a constant refrain in the career of Gerrit Rietveld. One of his final experiments in the medium, which began soon after the Second World War, marked a radical shift in his approach to the construction, in that he used overlapping sheets of molded plywood that served both as the structural system as well as the sculptural form. Clearly influenced by prototypes designed by Charles and Ray Eames and exhibited at MoMA in 1944, the "Danish" chair derives its nickname from an exhibition of the chair in Denmark in 1952.

The present lot is one of two examples that were commissioned from Rietveld by the Dutch sculptor Wessel Couzijn (1912-1984) and his wife, the American-born sculptor Pearl Perlmutter (1915-2008), and has descended in the family to the present owner. Correspondence from Rietveld to his son Jan (which was included with another example of the model, sold by the Estate of Rietveld at Christie's Amsterdam, June 7, 1988, Lot 401) mentions this commission and indicates that the chairs were to be executed by W.C. Hulsman in Amsterdam, and were to be lacquered in red with white edges.  Two examples in this color scheme do exist, in the Centraal Museum, Utrecht, but according to the Couzijn family, they received their chairs in solid red and gray. On April 7, 2009, Lot 79, a chair in solid gray with no published provenance was sold at Christie's London. Other examples in natural birch are in the collections of Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts and Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany. Less than ten total examples have been recorded, most of them with the squared-form backrest seen in the present lot.