Rietveld: My Modern Heirloom

I know friends who have had furniture pieces and other heirlooms passed down to them from family member to family member for generations. I don't have my great-grandmothers armoire, but I am thrilled with what has been passed down to me.

Our family left the Netherlands and moved to South Africa in the early 1970's and left behind a lot of furniture my parents gave to relatives. My family moved back to the Netherlands in the mid 80's and some of this furniture came back to us again. My grandmother had four Gispen 1407 Rietveld chairs that she had taken over from us and was happy to return. I think they were just taking up space in her house. I believe my father had originally used them in his office probably in the mid 60's. They were designed in 1954. The Gispen 1407 chair was a design collaboration between Wim Rietveld and A.R. Cordemeyer for a collection called "Furniture for a Simple Interior". I saw them for the first time when I was about 20 and I thought they were really great. So some years later, my husband and I had them packed, crated, and shipped to our loft in New York. From there they moved to our country house in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. I will treasure these chairs and pass them on to my girls if they like them. Hopefully one day my great great grandchildren will cherish these chairs that my parents passed down to me.