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Document Details : Title: Vrouwelijke ontwerpers in de zilverfabrieken van Begeer en Van Kempen, 1927-1960 Author(s): BISPING, Naomi Journal: Tijdschrift voor Interieurgeschiedenis en Design Volume: 46 Date: 2024 Pages: 65-85 DOI: 10.2143/GBI.46.0.3293684 Abstract : Between 1927 and 1960 the two largest silverware factories in the Netherlands, Zilverfabriek Voorschoten and Gerritsen & Van Kempen, employed several women designers. This was the first time women took centre stage within metal production in the Netherlands. This article explores their positions within the factories as well as in (international) silverware design. Starting point is Carel Begeer’s, director of Zilverfabriek Voorschoten, wish to modernise Dutch designs in silverware both stylistically and production-wise. In 1927 he employed Christa Ehrlich to create designs for silverware made with a deep drawing press. Ehrlich revolutionised Dutch silverware design and gained international renown for herself and the factory. From 1937 onwards Emmy Roth contributed to the factory’s artistic success with her sober designs. Whilst these two designers found themselves in the spotlight, their colleagues remained less visible. Though Ans van Zeijst was the first in the factory of Gerritsen & Van Kempen to introduce modern designs and to be able to compete with Ehrlich, she remained invisible to a larger audience. The Second World War also uprooted the field of design. Whilst the designs of Ehrlich, Roth and Van Zeijst were indebted to the Wiener Werkstätte and the Bauhaus, the design principles of these institutes were rejected during and after the war. Crucial for new directions within the two factories were Toos den Hartoog-Muijsert and Kirsten Begeer-Baatrup, who exemplify two very different approaches: the first took inspiration from French modernism and the second worked in a Scandinavian style. Although they themselves did not receive public attention like Ehrlich and Roth did, their designs played a crucial role in the artistic positioning of the factories. |
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