Start underneath the circle
A small round top is an easy shape to understand. IJhorst becomes more particular when the eye moves beneath it, following thin members through an open geometric base.
Spectrum dates the design to 1953 and credits Constant Nieuwenhuys. It describes a wire-steel frame and a plywood top, with a 35 cm diameter and 43 cm height for the small stool. The same piece can also function as a side table.1
The scale makes the relationship especially readable. The top supplies a single clear plane, while the base occupies space through lines. Much of the surrounding room remains visible between them.
The diagonals make the base worth following
Spectrum discusses the frame through compressive and tensile forces. That is its account of the design’s structural expression, rather than an invitation to infer a tested load from an illustration.1
Visually, the diagonal members give the eye several routes between the underside of the top and the floor. The open structure makes those routes easier to follow than they would be inside a solid pedestal.
The contrast changes how the small object reads. The circle seems compact and complete, while the supporting lines appear to reach through the space beneath it. A useful piece of furniture can therefore also act as a small geometric composition.
A painter works with a furniture collection
Stichting Constant’s account connects the 1953 IJhorst tables to Martin Visser’s invitation to make designs for the Spectrum collection. It places the furniture within a relationship between an artist and a design company, rather than treating the stool as an isolated decorative object.2
Spectrum also connects IJhorst with a turning point between Constant’s Cobra period and his later New Babylon project. The small piece gives that larger shift a domestic scale: a person can encounter the geometric thinking in an everyday object.1
The furniture does not need to explain the artist’s entire practice. Its open base is enough to make a particular way of organising space tangible.
The colours have another date
The foundation dates Spectrum’s commission to Studio RENS for a new colour scheme to 2022. The manufacturer’s later accessories presentation describes the reintroduction in its collection. Those choices belong to a later chapter, not automatically to the original 1953 version.23
Colour can draw attention to the separation between top and frame, but the relationship already has a physical clarity of its own. A small circle sits above a structure one can look through. IJhorst gives the room a place for a person or a cup and a few lines worth following.