Set of Ten Early 'Zig Zag' Chairs by Gerrit Rietveld for Cassina, 1973, Signed
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This set of ten early year 'Zig Zag' chairs by Gerrit Rietveld for Cassina are the holy grail of collectors pieces. Extremely rare and coveted, original 'Zig Zag' chairs are a part of design history, residing in museums, private collectors and art /design investors hands. This set of highly sought-after early year Cassina production Zig Zag chairs feature the early Cassina stamp under each chair along with serialized production numbers which are nearly sequential through all ten chairs (see photos) starting at #1529.
Designed in the early 1930's De Stijl movement, Cassina took over production in 1973 - these examples are from the earlier years of Cassina production, in the 1970s. This set is a prime option for the discerning collector or art and design investor, besides being early year signed examples, the condition is in exemplary near-mint condition, and the serialized production numbers are nearly sequential (1529, 1530, 1531, 1532, 1533, 1534, 1536, 1537, 1540, 1555). For those who are fortunate to afford a set like this, there is not much else out there that surpasses the collectibility and desirability of this incredible set.
ABOUT THE DESIGN: In the 1930s, Dutch department store Metz & Co. asked Rietveld to design a chair for mass production. Rietveld, an accomplished architect, proposed a Z-shaped chair made from four sections of sturdy elm supported by dovetail joints. To everyone’s surprise the armless, legless, cantilevered form which was a mere sliver in profile was comfortable and sturdy.
“It is not a chair but a designer’s joke,” Rietveld famously said of his Zig-Zag. Creatives of all types were taken with its smart craftsmanship: Later, artist Donald Judd placed five around a dining table in his New York pad and two more at his Architecture Office in Texas. In an arty advertising campaign, Karl Lagerfeld deemed it a favorite.
“It’s simple but elegant,” explains Dutch talent Joris Laarman. “Every detail and angled cut is important.” Not surprisingly, the price for an original mass-produced ZigZag has far exceeded its department-store tag. A pair from designer Jacques Grange’s collection brought nearly $30,000 at Sotheby’s.
ABOUT THE DESIGNER: Rietveld designed his Red and Blue Chair in 1917 which has become an iconic piece of modern furniture. Hoping that much of his furniture would eventually be mass-produced rather than handcrafted, Rietveld aimed for simplicity in construction. In 1918, he started his own furniture factory, and changed the chair's colours after becoming influenced by the De Stijl movement, of which he became a member in 1919, the same year in which he became an architect. The contacts that he made at De Stijl gave him the opportunity to exhibit abroad as well. In 1923, Walter Gropius invited Rietveld to exhibit at the Bauhaus.
He built the Rietveld Schröder House, in 1924, in close collaboration with the owner Truus Schröder-Schräder. Built in Utrecht on the Prins Hendriklaan 50, the house has a conventional ground floor, but is radical on the top floor, lacking fixed walls but instead relying on sliding walls to create and change living spaces. The house has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. His involvement in the Schröder House exerted a strong influence on Truus' daughter, Han Schröder, who became one of the first female architects in the Netherlands.
From the late 1920s he was concerned with social housing, inexpensive production methods, new materials, prefabrication and standardization. In 1927 he was already experimenting with prefabricated concrete slabs, a very unusual material at that time. In the 1920s and 1930s, however, all his commissions came from private individuals, and it was not until the 1950s that he was able to put his progressive ideas about social housing into practice, in projects in Utrecht and Reeuwijk.
Rietveld had his first retrospective exhibition devoted to his architectural work at the Central Museum, Utrecht, in 1958. When the art academy in Amsterdam became part of the higher professional education system in 1968 and was given the status of an Academy for Fine Arts and Design, the name was changed to the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in honour of Rietveld. "Gerrit Rietveld: A Centenary Exhibition" at the Barry Friedman Gallery, New York, in 1988 was the first comprehensive presentation of the Dutch architect's original works ever held in the U.S. The highlight of a celebratory “Rietveld Year” in Utrecht, the exhibition “Rietveld’s Universe” opened at the Centraal Museum and compared him and his work with famous contemporaries like Wright, Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe.
FROM CASSINA: Designed by Gerrit Rietveld, this chair provided an early example of a cantilevered seat, and is composed of four wood boards articulated end-to-end to form an extremely eye-catching example of an unstable structure. Eschewing the traditional legs-seat-back sequence, Rietveld created a ribbon of wood forming a Z-shape. The crafts mastery of Cassina’s carpenters is seen in the execution of the dove-tail joints, which add to the beauty of the piece. The aesthetic uniqueness of this piece can be seen particularly well in the coloured version, its open-pore finish highlighting the veins of the wood on the front and sides. This finish reflects a number of variations on the theme made by Rietveld, designed to highlight the relationship between the vertical, oblique and horizontal lines.
PROVENANCE: Private Collector, San Diego CA.
MEASUREMENTS: H 29.25" x W 14.75" x D 17" Seat Height: 17" Seat Depth: 14.75"
CONDITION: Excellent near mint condition with only very light minor patina. Incredible collectors examples ready for immediate use.