Rare Oak Art Deco Modernist Sideboard by Bas van Pelt for My Home, Netherlands, 1932

An exceptionally rare Art Deco Modernist oak sideboard designed by Dutch designer and interior architect Bas van Pelt for My Home in 1932. More than simply a beautiful piece of pre-war Dutch furniture, it represents the work of a designer whose career—and ultimately his life—became inseparable from one of the darkest chapters of European history.

Bastiaan Johannes “Bas” van Pelt (1900–1945) was one of the progressive voices in Dutch interior design during the interwar period. After beginning to design furniture in the 1920s, he took over My Home Woninginrichting in The Hague in 1931 and developed the company into an important destination for modern interiors. His showrooms brought together his own furniture with progressive Dutch and international designs, including work by Gispen and Thonet.

Created just one year later, in 1932, this sideboard belongs to an important period in Van Pelt's career. His furniture from these years captures the transition from the decorative refinement of Art Deco towards the increasingly rational and functional language of European Modernism.

Architectural simplicity

Executed in warm oak, the sideboard has a beautifully controlled architectural composition. Three drawers occupy the left side, while two generous cabinet compartments provide substantial storage. Contrasting dark circular handles punctuate the otherwise restrained façade.

The broad overhanging top features elegantly rounded edges, softening the strong horizontal geometry of the cabinet.

Perhaps its most distinctive feature is the construction of the sides. Instead of conventional legs, Van Pelt designed substantial architectural oak supports incorporating an elongated vertical opening crossed by a horizontal wooden element. This subtle geometric detail gives the piece an unmistakable identity: decorative enough to reveal its Art Deco origins, yet restrained enough to anticipate the functionalist furniture that would follow.

The result reflects Van Pelt's ability to combine craftsmanship, honest materials and architectural construction with an elegant simplicity that still feels remarkably contemporary almost a century later.

Bas van Pelt — design and resistance

Van Pelt's story extends far beyond furniture.

Following the German occupation of the Netherlands in 1940, he became involved in the Dutch resistance. Historical research records that his property was used to shelter people in hiding and to store ammunition.

His resistance activities eventually led to his arrest after he was betrayed in 1944. Van Pelt was deported into the German concentration-camp system and ultimately became one of the prisoners evacuated from Neuengamme to Sandbostel during the chaotic final phase of the war.

Although liberation came in the spring of 1945, Van Pelt had been severely weakened by his imprisonment. He died from typhus at Sandbostel on 24 May 1945, aged only 44.

His death brought an abrupt end to a remarkably promising career. After the war, the business was continued and subsequently carried his name, preserving the legacy of its founder.

Against this background, surviving furniture from Van Pelt's pre-war period takes on an additional historical significance. This sideboard was designed in 1932, at the beginning of the decade in which he was able to fully develop his own modernist design language—and years before war and occupation changed the course of his life.

Today, its low horizontal proportions, warm oak, sculptural side construction and restrained detailing make it remarkably relevant to contemporary interiors. It works equally well alongside important Italian and Scandinavian mid-century furniture as it does within a more eclectic contemporary setting.

A rare surviving example of early Dutch Modernism, positioned beautifully between Art Deco and Functionalism—and an evocative work from the tragically short career of Bas van Pelt: designer, interior architect and member of the Dutch resistance.

Designer: Bas van Pelt
Manufacturer: My Home
Origin: The Netherlands
Year: 1932
Materials: Oak
Dimensions: W 188 × D 59 × H 85 cm
Style: Art Deco / Early Modernist

Please note: The AI-generated interior image is intended solely to illustrate how the lowboard can be styled in a contemporary interior. Minor deviations from the original may occur. All other photographs show the actual lowboard offered for sale. Additional photos, videos or a live viewing at our showroom are available upon request.