Anton Hamaker Art Deco writing desk from the Amsterdam school for ‘t Woonhuys

Anton Hamaker (March 11, 1889 – January 20, 1980) was born in 1889 in Amsterdam.

Although his parents and teachers wanted him to become a painter, his interest was more in interior, furniture and industrial art. In 1916 Hamaker was appointed teacher in classical styles, interior and furniture art at the Hendrick de Keyserschool in Amsterdam. He stopped this when the assignments and training as an architect demanded too much time. He was married to Elizabeth van Oosterom and was the father of five children.

Hamaker has worked for wallpaper factory Rath en Doodeheefver and furniture factory ‘t Woonhuys, and has worked regularly with architects Jan Gratama and Jan-Willem Dinger since the 1930s. In particular, he has many (interiors of) catering establishments to his name. The fact that his name is often mentioned in advertisements and articles says a lot about his reputation and name recognition at the time.

In 1930-1935 he worked on the interior of a new villa in Huizen in which ‘t Woonhuys was asked for the interior styling. This desk comes from the villa in Huizen is brandmarked ‘t Woonhuys and is in very good condition consistent with age and use.