Armchair attributed to Henry van de Velde
Solid mahogany, upholstered in dark green leather with brass studs. Leather slightly cracked. In good overall condition for its age with fine patina. H 79, W 60, D 59 cm.
Around 1898/99, produced by Joseph Trier, Darmstadt, around 1902.
The stylistic similarities between this armchair and the better-known furniture designed for Harry Graf Kessler is obvious, even if the specimen shown here appears more agile and organic. The ends of the back and armrests are curved, as are the front supports and front apron. The rounded seat, created using vertical struts, appears more open and inviting. The design can be dated a few years earlier, years in which Henry van de Velde's furniture became more sober and businesslike. A photograph reproduced by Sembach (p. 46) shows Henry van de Velde in his apartment on Cranachstrasse in Weimar, probably taken in 1903. The armchair he is sitting in is considerably closer to the one presented here. Van de Velde had already developed the prototype in Brussels, for Leon Biart, around 1896. Examples of these early chairs can be found today in the Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum Trondheim and the Nationalmuseum Stockholm (NMK 109/1973).
Certificate
There is no expert opinion from the Klassikstiftung Weimar.
Provenance
From an important European private collection.
Literature
Cf. "Pfingst-Ausstellung des Kunstvereins für die Rheinlande und Westfalen in der Kunsthalle zu Düsseldorf", in: Verband der Kunstfreunde in den Ländern am Rhein (ed.), 6/1903, p. 353.
Cf. Sembach, Henry van de Velde, Stuttgart 1989, p. 96 f.