Jan de Jong Rare Custom Table and Stools in Dark Grey Lacquered Wood

Jan de Jong custom table and stools, lacquered wood, Netherlands, 1970s

An exceptional dining ensemble by Jan de Jong, comprising a monumental table and six matching stools. Defined by clean lines and strong geometric volumes, this set exemplifies De Jong’s architectural approach to furniture design. Every element reflects a careful balance of proportion, simplicity, and craftsmanship. Commissioned for a private villa in the Netherlands, this rare and highly collectible ensemble was conceived as an integral part of the interior architecture.


Biography
Jan de Jong (1917–2001) was a Dutch twentieth-century architect and a key representative of the Bossche School, a post-war architectural movement founded by the architect and Benedictine monk Hans Dom van der Laan (1904–1991). This movement is characterized by austere brick façades, a rhythmic arrangement of windows, exposed concrete crossbeams, and grey-painted walls.

De Jong began his career as a carpenter and, around the time of the Second World War, worked his way up to become an architect. Over the course of his career, he developed a diverse body of work encompassing various building types. His architecture was strongly influenced by the proportional theory devised by van der Laan, which emphasizes ideal spatial relationships. Van der Laan argued that natural space is too vast for human experience and that it is the architect’s task to shape spaces that correspond to human scale. From this perspective, proportion, rather than construction technique or visual appearance, forms the essence of architecture.

A central principle of the Bossche School is the “plastic number,” a proportional system derived from the golden ratio, which De Jong frequently applied in his designs.