Past Forges Futer Armchair by Markus Friedrich Staab, 2010s

About This Piece

Vintage Design

Wim Rietveld classic contemporized, porcelain armrests, de-construchted, spray painted and multi-lacquered in 2k varnish

• Info about Markus F. Staab
• born 1964 in Aschaffenburg, Germany
• since 1986 active as a visual artist
• since 1989 national and international exhibitions
• since 2010 work with „re-cycled and found objects“

The chair has been with us almost since the beginning of time. A piece of furniture not just for practical purposes, but as an expression of royalty, of religion, of hierarchy, of art. We examine the history of this unique object which has served each one of us since childhood.
Through my work I transform each chair into a unique and individual object. Chairs that once were mass-produced and homogenous, become singular and unique: re-cycled, re-furbished, re-mixed and re-decorated.
I am particularly interested to give value and meaning to something that has been overlooked. To free the object from its traditional use and turn it into something special. Through this process the chair that was once used on a daily basis, becomes a self-sufficient piece of art. Hereby we explore traditional historical objects that gain value by a mere change of perspective. It is these themes of chairs as sculptural objects and art as object of utility that I am particularly fascinated by.
It is the love for the daily things that we surround ourselves with, their unique shape and expression, that give me hope that not all is lost to pure consumerism and IKEAlisation

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Creator	Wim Rietveld/Markus Friedrich Staab
Manufacturer	Gispen
Design Period	1950 to 1959
Year	1956
Production Period	1950 to 1959
Country of Manufacture	Netherlands
Identifying Marks	This piece has an attribution mark
Style	Mid-Century
Detailed Condition	Good — This vintage/antique item may have some wear such as scratches and other signs of ageing.
Restoration and Damage Details	Light wear consistent with age and use
Product Code	NS-1928110
Materials	Paint, Porcelain, Compressed Wood
Color	Blue, orange, green
Width	42 cm 16.5 inch
Depth	42 cm 16.5 inch
Height	82 cm 32.3 inch
Seat Height	16.9 inch
Duties Notice	Import duty is not included in the prices you see online. You may have to pay import duties upon receipt of your order.

Shipping & Delivery

Ships from	Germany
Duties Notice	Import duty is not included in the prices you see online. You may have to pay import duties upon receipt of your order.
Returns	Returns accepted within two days of delivery, except for Made-to-order items

Sustainability

Carbon Neutral	For every purchase made, Pamono offsets 100% of estimated carbon emissions from global shipping.
Vintage	Choosing vintage and antique furniture reduces your carbon footprint by cutting down on waste and reduces demand for new materials and extends the life of the products we use.

Delivery Details

Delivery will be completed by a parcel service such as UPS, DHL, or FedEx.
You will receive a tracking number to monitor the status of your shipment.
Delivery will take place between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
A wooden crate may be used for intercontinental shipments for maximum protection.
Item will be left in its packaging after delivery.
A signature will be required upon delivery.

*Important Note

Please examine the packaging upon delivery. In the event that there are visible signs of damaged packaging, please indicate the problem on the Delivery Note, take pictures, and—if the item inside shows damages—contact us within 48 hours of delivery. A signed delivery receipt without notations regarding damaged packaging represents your acceptance of the completed order in perfect condition.

About the Maker

Gispen

Willem Hendrik (W. H.) Gispen, a pioneer of Dutch functionalism, was born in Amsterdam in 1890. Prior to the outbreak of World War I, he studied design in the architecture department at the Academy of Visual Arts & Technical Science in Rotterdam. In 1916, he set up an eponymous metalwork shop dedicated to ornamental iron, brass, and bronze decorative arts. During these early years, Gispen produced objects in Expressionist and Art Nouveau styles.

In the 1920s, however, through encounters with influential theorists and practitioners of modernism—such as De Stijl architect J. J. P. Oud, Deutscher Werkbund architect Hermann Muthesius, and Purist architect Le Corbusier—Gispen’s firm increasingly moved toward mechanized production and rational, economical, minimalist designs. His geometrically reduced Giso Light (1926/7), now considered one of the Netherlands’ greatest design icons, was the culmination of his newfound commitment to functionalism. It was quickly followed by his first cantilevered, tubular steel chair, inspired by the work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Mart Stam. Gispen’s marketing and advertising arms also adopted the vanguard spirit of the day through cutting-edge typography and collaged photos by the likes of graphic artist Paul Schuitema and photographer Jan Kamman.

Gispen’s successes in the 1920s were followed by years of hardship. The 1929 Wall Street Crash and the resulting Great Depression nearly sent the company into bankruptcy. In response, Gispen was reorganized, and naval architect W. van Osselen was brought in as co-director to develop a promising office furniture line in steel. Multiple patents lawsuits—from Stam and van der Rohe in particular—further hampered the company’s growth in the 1930s. Then, in the 1940s, W. H. Gispen was imprisoned for protesting the Nazi Kulturkammer censorship policies. In 1949, he resigned from his own company due to mounting artistic tensions with van Osselen, but he remained a consultant for Gispen until the 1960s.

Gispen flourished in the 1950s and '60s, even after its founder's departure. In particular, the company found great success with the minimalist, rationalist designs of A. R. Cordemeyer and Wim Rietveld. Standout designs from the Gispen collection in the postwar era include the 1407 Armchair (1954) by Cordemeyer and Rietveld, Model 663 Storage System (1954) by Rietveld, Model Giso 4050 Lamp (1956) by Rietveld, 217 Chair (1957) by Rietveld and his father Gerrit Rietveld, 1262 Chair (1959) by Cordemeyer, and 1637 Swivel Chair (1963) by Cordemeyer.

W. H. Gispen's design career did not end upon his departure from the company. he went on to found another design manufacturing company, called Kembo, in 1953 and taught at the Koninklijke Academie in The Hague, among other design ventures

Today, Gispen operates under the name Gispen International BV and continues to reproduce W. H. Gispen’s original designs alongside evolving lines of office furniture. The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam organized the first exhibition dedicated to Gispen in 1981, which focused primarily on lamp designs from 1916 to 1949. The Giso Model 404 Piano Lamp (1927/28), designed by Oud and Gispen and produced by the Gispen firm, can be found in a number of museum collections, including the Cooper Hewitt and MoMA in New York and the Wolfsonian in Miami.

*All images courtesy of Gispen