1920's ? German furniture ?

Hello,
First time poster here. My wife pick up a beautiful hutch that has a builder badge "Mobel Gleiser Berlin, Alexanderplatz" (also hand signed "Albert Gleiser"). Not much on an internet search other than "famous furniture maker in Berlin" who has very expensive catalogs from the 20's. Anyone with some insight on this piece would be great!

 

Welcome, Ckandow! You can embed your Gallery pictures into your post by using the "camera" icon.

 

1920's German Hutch by Ckandow posted Jan 27, 2019 at 6:08 PM

Mobel Gleiser ? by Ckandow posted Jan 27, 2019 at 6:08 PM

 

Have you looked on Google.de? There appears to be a fair amount there. For instance, the company had a previous logo (which the poster refers to as "art deco") which precedes that on your piece. And, not an expert, but your piece doesn't look 1920s to my eye.

Debora

 

WELCOME Ckandow !!! ... Joy.

 

looks almost MCM...

 

Welcome to the forum, Ckandow.

 

It looks late 50s-60s, but possibly older?
So far I can only find catalogues:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/20425-WK-Mo...h=item363f17d289:g:IukAAOSwjVVVqLi9:rk:1:pf:0

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Mobel-Katal...h=item2ce33a60f5:g:dk8AAOSwoZJcPMDA:rk:2:pf:0

And from a bookseller who has imaginary pricing:
https://www.klinebooks.com/pages/books/42258/albert-gleiser-a-g/moderne-mobel

 

I think late 1950s, possibly teak. Nice.

 

Yes it is teak. We are thinking of painting it...but, other than the old catalogs on-line, I can't find any real furniture examples from the maker to know any value.

 

Oh, PLEASE no paint! That look and quality has worth.

 

No paint! (Please.)

Debora

 

jewish company, liq. 1935/6. the style could also be Bauhaus influenced (just my opinion, what do I know)
so, rather hard to find.
https://www2.hu-berlin.de/djgb/www/...el+und+Einrichtungen"+AND+Stadtbezirk:"Mitte"

 

• Albert Gleiser Möbelfabrik-AG
  Möbel- u. Einrichtungshaus (Möbel)
  Gegründet 1923 , Liq.: 1936
  Alexanderstrasse 42 (Mitte)
• Albert Gleiser Möbelhaus GmbH
  Möbelhaus (Möbel)
  Gegründet 1924 , Liq.: 1935
  Alexanderstrasse 42 (Mitte)

 

I question if its mid-century modern because of the history of the company. I haven't seen anything on the maker post WW2. Perhaps they were ahead of their time...

 

Update: Found this document on-line. This would explain the liquidation of the company in 1938. Its history is very interesting and seems to be a piece with style a decade before it's time. I agree with Fid in that I believe the maker was influenced by Bauhaus modern design.

https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/154/

 

generally speaking...when you see Liq or Liquidiert then you can be sure that it was aryanized in those years. and when the Jewish community of Berlin doesn't know what happened, then nobody knows. the persons that " bought" - or rather made a bargain, normally 5- 10 % of the real price - weren't interested after the war to tell around where their sudden fortunes came from.
generally speaking again: Jewish LIBERAL people - artists, factories etc. - were always at the height of the fashion of their time.
here I'd contact a specialised auction house WITH international contacts, because Bauhaus becoming exactly 100 years 2019 and the even less known Neue Sachlichkeit will become 100 in a little while.
in such good nick I'd contact the Weimar museum directly or the one in Dessau which I don't know.

 

Thank you for your insight and recommendation. I will always wonder how this piece made it to East Lansing Michigan...I'm sure I'll never know.

After all this interesting history...I promise I won't paint it!