3-Bay wall unit by Louis Van Teeffelen
Three bay wall unit, designed by Louis van Teeffelen and produced by Wébé in The Netherlands during the 1960’s. The four wall supports in original black lacquered limba wood are mounted to the wall with 4 screws per rail. The system consists of one drawer cabinet with a key and one secretary cabinet and one cabinet with a handgrip and fold down door. There’s a big shelf with a depth of 40 cm and 5 shelves of 22 cm included. This is a modular wall unit system, so you can arrange all elements as desired. Some patina on the messing brackets, further in very good original condition, as shown in the pictures.
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W: 260 cm
D: 40 cm
H: 199 cm
Weight: approx. 55 kilo
Material: Teak, limbawood, messing
Designer Louis Van Teeffelen (29th of sept 1921) is best known for his work as chief designer for the furniture factory Walraven and Bevers, later known as Wébé.
Louis lost his father, who was a blacksmith, when he was only 4 years old. Because of the outbreaking war and his own difficult family situation, Louis couldn’t go attend a higher vocational school or academy. He studied furniture design and technical manufacturing in the evenings at the Royal PBNA (Polytechnic Bureau Netherlands Arnhem). After the war, he also earned a diploma in self-employment and general business knowledge.
In 1952 he went to work for himself as a designer, collaborating with a construction company called Baars and Sons. This company went bankrupt only three years later, taking Van Teeffelen’s firm down along with it.
From 1955 to the end of 1967, he became the chief designer for Walraven and Bevers, later renamed Wébé. During the post-war years, a lot of new houses had to be built in The Netherlands. These houses had to be light, modern and easy to build, thanks to new techniques that were introduced. With the new housing came a new style of furniture. Away with the heavy old oak pieces, the new style was inspired by Danish designers with their minimalism and functionalist approach.
It was a period when Wébé produced high-quality furniture in teak or rosewood, sometimes walnut and wenge. At the time, Wébé was one of the larger furniture factories in the Netherlands. Van Teeffelen was heavily inspired by Kaare Klint and other Danish designers but did put his own stamp on his designs. His pieces were organic with sculptural elements like the recognisable ‘smiley’ handgrips. The seatings were of a phenomenal comfort and very practical. His modular wall system became very popular overnight and his coffee tables showed a familiarity with Japanese aesthetics. In later years, he integrated other materials, like glass or cermaic tile panels made by Jaap Ravelli, a ceramist from Valkenburg.
By the mid-1960s, the interest in teak furniture in the Netherlands began to decline. Louis’ designs became more streamlined in shape, and rosewood became the most commonly used material. The cabinets, dining chairs, and tables were made of rosewood combined with gray steel legs. The upholstered sofas and armchairs had metal frames and armrests combined with rosewood elements.
By the late 1960s, Wébé shifted its focus to the returning demand for oak furniture. The factory was more of a trend follower than a trendsetter, but it had a keen sense for upcoming markets. Sketches of Louis’ oak furniture designs were found, recognizable in a Wébé brochure from the 1970s.
In his free time, Louis assisted villagers with plans for building or renovating their homes or shop interiors. He also drew plans for vacation homes, boats, and airplanes, but none were ever realized. In 1967, Louis started to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, a progressive disease that gradually limited his ability to design and move. It really smashed his ambitions as he felt unable to fully exploit his creative talents. At the age of 50, Louis Van Teeffelen passed away on April 30, 1972, in his hometown Beneden-Leeuwen due to heart failure.
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