The two chairs and the table in the sitting room were made by the Netherlands' leading manufacturer of tubular steel furniture, the Rotterdam-based company Gispen. The lamps were also made by Gispen, which produced a wide range of lighting fixtures under the brand name Giso. A couple of items of tubular steel furniture were not made by Gispen; for example Mrs Sonneveld's bureau comes from the Austrian company Thonet, and is the original piece which has always been here. The sofa was designed by the architect of the house, Van der Vlugt, and was made by Allan & Co. With its tubes holding the cushions in place, this item of furniture is slightly reminiscent of the famous design by the French architect Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand. The fabrics, floor coverings and rugs were chosen from the range of the Amsterdam company Metz & Co, which supplied fabrics in colours mixed by the avant-garde painter Bart van der Leck. The range consisted of shades of red, yellow, blue, grey and brown. You'll see Van der Leck colours all over the house; for example the red armchairs and yellow bureau chair in the sitting room. The Sonnevelds’ art collection included five paintings in the style of the Hague School and two sculptures by John Rädecker. Two original paintings have been rehung in the sitting room and both the sculptures have also been reacquired. Above the sofa there is a painting called Zeegezicht (Seascape) with two fishing boats by the painter Willem Bastiaan Tholen. Next to the fireplace there is as portrait of a fisherman’s wife or fisherman by an as yet unidentified painter. Between the grand piano and the sofa, there is one of the two sculptures by John Rädecker. It depicts a seated lion and it dates from 1925. Van de Vlugt made these two works of art into an integral part of the interior, with a special frame around the picture and a square black pedestal for the sculpture.
If you’d like to hear more about the white cubical vase on the coffee table by the sofa, press C.