Sen ash, solid and veneer, varnished, glass
GDR, 1957
Design: Franz Ehrlich (1907-1984) – German architect and designer
Completion: VEB Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau, Dresden
Model 602/V
With manufacturer’s label
Dimensions: 64 x 130 x 60 cm (height x width x depth)
Good condition
Franz Ehrlich’s designed furniture type series ‘602’ was already produced by the Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau since 1957

Franz Ehrlich designed this table, model 602/V, for the VEB Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau. The table is crafted of solid and veneered Sen ash, a material that is today mainly used in its country of origin, Japan. The bright wood with the regular grain that is especially well visible on the tabletop is of high decorative effect, but without the especially luxurious and exquisite touch of other finewoods like mahogany or rosewood, which are known from Art Deco. Such an effect would have objected the ideological spirit of Socialism. The tabletop is covered by a suiting pane.



The table bears the original manufacturer’s label with numerous indications about material, dimensions and others below the top. It is 64 cm in height and measures 130 x 605 cm. It is in good condition with little traces of age and use. The tabletop partly shows scratching marks.



Franz Ehrlich (1907-1984)

The university years at the Bauhaus in Dessau and the collaboration with Walter Gropius were determining for Ehrlich, resulting in a few early buildings in Berlin and Leipzig. Ehrlich was in imprisonment under the National Socialists and he had to design several buildings in indentured labor. After military service from 1943 until 1945 and war imprisonment, he returned to Germany in 1946 and became the head of the department of reconstruction in Dresden, where he was responsible for several buildings. His work was decisive for the architectural history of the GDR as a versatile architect and designer. He became the house architect of the Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau in 1968.



Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau (est. 1898)

The Werkstätten were established in 1898 by Karl Schmidt-Hellerau. The plywood board was invented through a design by Hellerau in 1898/99. A technical college and training workshops were established in 1907. There were 450 employees in 1910. The company endured despite the heavily to overcome world economic crisis in 1929 and the socialist command economy of the GDR. Hellerau was the parent plant of the VEB Möbelkombinat Hellerau that several furniture companies belonged to in the GDR. The company was converted into a GmbH in 1991 and reprivatized in 1992. They re-started with 80 employees. The Deutsche Werkstätten employ 200 people today. (afa)

Shipping costs excl. statutory VAT and plus 2,5% (+VAT) shipping insurance.