Description Bas van Pelt (1900-1945),An oak sideboard, ca. 1938-40,The rectangular top above three fall-front doors with circular handles, enclosing an interior with five open compartments and two shelves, on tapering plank legs. This piece is part of a dining room suite (comprising an oak table with six dining chairs [see lot 7512] and a sideboard), which was the last set of furniture Bas van Pelt designed before the arrival of World War II in the Netherlands. The striking play of vertical lines in the high backrests of the dining chairs are emblematic of the influence of the American architect and designer Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright`s oeuvre impacted the work of a great number of The Hague designers such as Henk Wouda, Frits Spanjaard, Cor Alons and Jan Wils. Moreover, in Van Pelt’s choice for the warm and humble quality of wood we can also recognize the influence of Dutch Arts and Crafts tendencies, such as the work of Alexander Kropholler. It is this mindset that led Van Pelt to convert the simple steel tubular frame into a wooden equivalent. However, one key element that sets Van Pelt`s designs apart from his colleagues is the element of doubt, as characterized by art historian Timo de Rijk. Van Pelt alternated modern influences with more traditional European forms and techniques, such as wicker seats and curved armrests. In these experiments, Van Pelt`s work approaches much more the curvaceous style of designer Sybold van Ravesteijn, which deviated from the functionalist tendencies in the world of architecture and design during the 1920s and 1930s. This exact dining room suite was included in an exhibition of the Haagse Kunstkring (The Hague Art Circle) in the Gemeentemuseum, The Hague (the current Kunstmuseum) in 1941. While this exhibition was primarily organized to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Kunstkring, it also facilitated the handover of the Kunstkring`s building on the Lange Houtstraat to the German occupier. Moreover, the exhibition was also an opportunity to fill the empty rooms of the museum, a void that was a result of the removal and storage of undesirable art by the nazis. In 1949, the dining room suite was bought by the father of the current owner as a wedding gift for his wife, and has stayed in the family since.,92x220x67 cm,,Literature: This exact set was discussed and illustrated in the exhibition catalogue Jubileum Haagsche Kunstkring 1891-1941 (Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, 1941), and in P. Koomen, Binnenhuis: karakter en sfeer: het werk van Bas van Pelt (The Hague 1943). Provenance: Exhibition: Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, 1941, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Haagse Kunstkring. Bought from the shop of Bas van Pelt in 1949 by the father of the current owner. With thanks to Karel Bodegom, Bas van Pelt, The Hague.