Rare Pair of “Dordrecht” Lounge Chairs by W. van Gelderen for ’t Spectrum, Dutch Design 1951

In his early years, van Gelderen (1903-1992) was one of the designers of Dutch furniture company “Fabriek D3”, where he worked with architects and designers like Cor Alons, Paul Schuitema and Gerrit Rietveld. Later he joined ’t Spectrum where he gained fame with his wooden furniture designs. One of his designs is this chair which was named “Dordrecht”. This chair was only in production for one year, from 1951 to 1952, and is therefor extremely rare.

In the 40s and begin 50s ’t Spectrum was forced to use wood for their furniture. This was because of the second world war. During this war the Germans confiscated all metal for their weapon production, so there was a shortage of metal. As a result, metal was not allowed to use for furniture production. It was only in the mid 50s ’t Spectrum began to use metal. This under supervision of designer Martin Visser.

The chair is made of laminated wood with a cushion made of one piece. The cushion is “wrapped” around the chair in a clever way. Because of this, the cushion is firmly fitted and won’t move or slide of the chair.

Chair is in good, vintage condition with no major damages to the wood. Only some traces of use. New black upholstery.

These hard to find collectors chairs are a fine and beautiful example of early post-war Dutch mid-century design.

Width: 47,5 cm
Depth: 65 cm; seating 47 cm
Height: 76 cm; seating 38 cm