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Erich Dieckmann (1896-1944) had already spent some time studying architecture in Danzig (Gdansk) and painting in Dresden, when he joined the Bauhaus in Weimar in 1921. After finishing the introduction course (Vorkurs), Dieckmann was admitted to the furniture workshop in 1922. In this department, which was supervised by Walter Gropius, Dieckmann and his friend and fellow student Marcel Breuer set out to develop a design vocabulary that would become exemplary for Bauhaus furniture. Shifting away from the expressionism of the first Bauhaus years, they focused on the design of so called Typenmöbel: furniture made out of standardized elements that would eventually be suitable for serial production.
 
The Bauhaus moved to Dessau in 1925. Dieckmann decided to stay in Weimar to become head of the cabinetmaker’s workshop of the Staatliche Bauhochschule, the succesor to the Bauhaus. In this capacity he managed to broaden his model range considerably and realise his ambition of (limited) serial production.
 
As a result of political turmoil Dieckmann left for the Kunstgewerbeschule Burg Giebichenstein in Halle in 1931, where he was appointed to lead the cabinetmaker’s workshop again. (A position which he held for two years until he was dismissed by the National Socialists once more.)
 
Around 1930 Dieckmann had already established strong ties with the German furniture industry and had expanded his fields of interest from wood to tubular steel and rattan as well. His furniture design achievements were published in a sought after 1931 monograph.
 
The table on offer was designed in 1926-27, when Dieckmann taught at the Bauhochschule Weimar and was executed at the institute’s workshops. Where the legs and frame of the table are executed in ebonized wood, the tabletop shows a checkerboard pattern in lighter shades. The table is branded with the Staatliche Bauhochschule Weimar stamp (last pictures). The table was probably originally equipped with a loose glass plate. This plate is not present, but can easily be reproduced.
 
Dimensions: height 19.7 in. (50 cm), depth 33.8 in. (86 cm), width 33.8 inches (86 cm).
 
As contemporary photos show, the table was intended to complement the lounge chair, which is on offer as well. We offer this table and the matching lounge chair as a combination for 6150 euros.
 
Literature:
- W. Lotz, Wie richte ich meine Wohnung ein?: Modern, gut, mit welchen Kosten? (Berlin 1930), p. 115.
- E. Dieckmann, Erich Dieckmann Möbelbau: In Holz, Rohr und Stahl (Stuttgart 1931/ Weil am Rhein 1990), p. 51.