Piano Stool: M.3-2022

Current Location: In storage

Titles

Piano Stool

Maker(s)

Designer: Rietveld, Gerrit Thomas
Maker: Groenekan, Gerard A. van der

Entities

Stool

Description

High stool, comprised of nine wooden dowels painted black, the ends painted blue, structured to form a stool, across which two pieces of brown leather are stretched to form a seat and backrest.

Legal notes

Given by the Executors of the Estate of David Scrase, 2021, in memory of Rick Mather

Place(s) associated

Utrecht ⪼ Netherlands

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (2022-04-29) by Executors of the Estate of David Scrase

Dating

Production date: AD 1923

Note

Originally designed in 1923. As with Red Blue Chair (M.1-2022), Rietveld was often thinking of the possibilities for mass production and therefore incorporated pre-made round staves into this design. However, these proved to lack stability as they had significantly less contact area compared to square timber. Also, as discussed by Ida van Zijl of the Dutch Design Museum, leather was a poor choice of material for a piano stool as it creaked. ‘People complain about the creaking of the leather when the music is quiet,’ Rietveld wrote to the architect J. J. P. Oud, for whom the chair was intended. ‘Amidst the noise at home I hadn’t thought about that.’