Vitrinekast bestaande uit een onderkast en een beglaasde bovenkast met een raamwerk van brons c. 1910 - 1920

This display cabinet with bronze framework was made by Theo Nieuwenhuis. Imagine Nieuwenhuis in his workshop, surrounded by wood and tools. He's got a vision, but the material pushes back, demanding its own say. You can see it in the cabinet’s structure, how the light catches the bronze, how the carvings dance across the wood. I'm struck by the balance between the smooth glass and the tactile wood. The glass, of course, offering a clear, almost clinical display, but it's the wood that grounds it, gives it warmth. And those carvings! Each one a tiny gesture, a mark of Nieuwenhuis' hand and imagination. It’s like he’s whispering secrets into the grain. Nieuwenhuis was part of a whole community exploring form, material, craft, and display. He probably looked at what the Bauhaus was up to, and the Arts and Crafts movement in England. All those conversations about how art interacts with everyday life, how design could elevate the mundane! He was trying to figure out how to make something beautiful, and useful. And here it is.