W.H. Gispen model 414 fauteuil for Dutch Originals

After his HBS school education, Willem Hendrik Gispen made several visits to England where he came into contact with the ideas of the Arts and Crafts movement. Inspired by this, he decided in 1913 to apply for a study at the Academy of Visual Arts and Technical Sciences in Rotterdam. During the First World War he discontinued his studies and worked for some time as a volunteer at an architectural firm. On September 14, 1916, he took over an existing forge with borrowed money and established himself as W.H.Gispen & Co, which after a turbulent period of growth was renamed in Gispen’s Fabriek voor Metaalbewerking. He acquired international fame in 1927 when he took part in the exhibition with his Gisolamps. Die Wohnung in Stuttgart. Two years later, he was the first in the Netherlands to start serial production of tubular steel furniture. Characteristic of his furniture designs is the balance between form and functionality. Some of his designs are still regarded as highlights in the history of Dutch industrial design. In the early 1970s, Gispen ended his career as an industrial designer and, at the age of 79, started a study in Graphic Art at the Hague Academy.

This model 414 fauteuil is a design from 1935 and still in production. Dutch Originals started in 1791, when the Gebroeders van der Stroom furniture factory was established in Culemborg. In the 1990s, the brothers obtained exclusive rights to the successful designs of W.H. to manufacture his designs. This model dates from the 1990s and is in outmost good condition.