Gerrit Thomas Rietveld (1888-1964)

Rietveld was commisioned by P. van der Pluym, owner of Wessels shop, to make furniture for the Katholiek Militair Tehuis (Catholic Servicemans Home) in Utrecht in 1923. For this furniture, the stretchers and legs are attached using halving joints that are strengthened with sturdy nuts and bolts. The top does not rest directly on the longitudinal stretchers but on a number of narrow cross pieces to create a light, spacious construction. Rietveld experimented with this technique as early as 1918 when he made a table for B. de Ligt.