Lot: 726

Marcel Breuer (attributed)
Two shelving cabinets and a shelf, 1929 (design)

Cabinet: H. 180 x 149.5 x 49.5 cm; Shelf: H. 179.5 x 104 x 24.5 cm.
Bauhaus Dessau, Joinery Workshop, 1929.
Wooden box construction, blockboard, walnut veneer, clear glass, aluminum rails.

The bookcase was Josef Böckenheide’s journeyman’s piece at the Bauhaus joinery in Dessau around 1930 and was likely originally based on a design by Marcel Breuer. The two bookcases offered here were custom-made for Friedel and Otto Müller by the Böckenheide joinery, which was affiliated with the Bauhaus. Friedel Müller (née Stepel) had long-standing ties to the Bauhaus and had furnished her first apartment with Bauhaus furniture. Otto Müller was a banker who came into contact with the Bauhaus through his wife and became a great admirer and patron. The Müllers’ shared apartment was documented and described in great detail in an article by Lutz Schöbe and Sylvia Ziegner, employees of the Bauhaus Foundation Dessau (see bibliography below). Some of the furniture pieces from this apartment are part of the collection of the Bauhaus Archive in Dessau. Provenance: The Müllers’ apartment; subsequently inherited by the current owners. Otto Müller was the great-great-uncle of the owners.

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Estimate: 8,000 € - 12,000 €