Rietveld Steltman chair

The Steltman chair is the last chair Gerrit Rietveld designed at the age of 75. With this design he once again proved his status as a pioneering designer. The chair owes its name to the The Hague jeweller and royal purveyor Steltman who commissioned Rietveld in 1963 to rebuild and furnish his shop at in The Hague (Netherlands). Rietveld designed the Steltman chair as two mirrored chairs, placed in front of a showcase with jewellery where customers could select their wedding rings. This way the chairs also acquired a symbolic meaning: two separate, opposite forms that together form a unity. The asymmetrical chair, which produces a surprising image from every angle, is made up entirely of lines and planes. The Steltman is typical of Rietveld’s design ideas and is now a true design classic! The original Steltman chairs were upholstered in white artificial leather.

This wooden version made of solid quarter sawn oak, which was only built after Rietveld’s death in 1964, is now better known than the original artificial leather upholstery.