Hopmi Tube Chair by H. F. Mertens for Pastoe, 1930s

About This Piece

Vintage Design

Rare tubular chair named Hopmi designed by Hermann Friedrich Mertens (1885-1960) for UMS Pastoe in collaboration with HOPMI in 1932. HOPMI stands for Hollandsche Patent Metaal Industrie. from 1932 to 1934, HOPMI worked with UMS Pastoe on the production of a series of tubular furniture, characterised by the special torpedo nuts. These nuts made the furniture easy to disassemble and ship. HOPMI had this combination patented. In 1934, Gerrit Rietveld also designed a chair for Hopmi. Besides furniture designer, Mertens was also an architect. Among other things, he designed the old Unilever headquarters building in Rotterdam, which now houses the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. The condition of this special chair is still very good (see photos). It is still very solid and the upholstery is still good, no cracks or holes. Material: chromed metal, wood and skai. Dimensions: h x w x d = 80.5 x 51 x 62.5 cm, seat height is 45 cm, armrest height 69.5 cm. Source: Pastoe 100 Years, page 203. This chair is also in the collection of Centraal Museum Utrecht. Collector’s item!

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Creator	H. F. Mertens
Manufacturer	Pastoe
Design Period	1920 to 1949
Production Period	1930 to 1939
Country of Manufacture	Netherlands
Identifying Marks	This piece has been attributed based on archival documentation, such as vintage catalogs, designer records, or other literature sources
Style	Vintage
Detailed Condition	Very Good — This vintage/antique item has no defects, but it may show slight traces of use.
Product Code	ZT-1694629
Restoration and Damage Details	Ztijl Quality Checked, Patina consistent with age and use
Materials	Leatherette, Wood
Color	Black, grey
Width	51 cm 20.1 inch
Depth	62 cm 24.4 inch
Height	80 cm 31.5 inch
Weight Range	Standard — Between 40kg and 80kg
Duties Notice	Import duty is not included in the prices you see online. You may have to pay import duties upon receipt of your order.

Shipping & Delivery

Ships from	Netherlands
Duties Notice	Import duty is not included in the prices you see online. You may have to pay import duties upon receipt of your order.
Returns	Returns accepted within fourteen days of delivery, except for Made-to-order items

Sustainability

Carbon Neutral	For every purchase made, Pamono offsets 100% of estimated carbon emissions from global shipping.
Vintage	Choosing vintage and antique furniture reduces your carbon footprint by cutting down on waste and reduces demand for new materials and extends the life of the products we use.

Delivery Options

Front Door Delivery: (Included in Every Order)	A skilled driver will unload the item(s) from the delivery truck and bring it to your building’s doorstep. You will be responsible for further transport beyond that point. We recommend asking a family member or friend for an extra hand; alternatively, you may upgrade to In-Home Delivery (see below). The delivery partner will email and/or call you at least one day in advance to arrange a delivery time. A wooden crate may be used for intercontinental shipments for maximum protection. Item will be left in its packaging after delivery. A signature will be required upon delivery.
In-Home Delivery: (For in-home delivery service, additional fees apply. Please get in touch)	A skilled driver or a team of two will bring your item(s) inside your home and place it in the immediate entryway. For unusually large or heavy items, we recommend asking a family member or friend for an extra hand, as we cannot send more than 2 drivers. The delivery partner will email and/or call you one day in advance to arrange a delivery time. A wooden crate may be used for intercontinental shipments for maximum protection. Item will be left in its packaging after delivery. A signature will be required upon delivery.

Front Door Delivery:
(Included in Every Order)

A skilled driver will unload the item(s) from the delivery truck and bring it to your building’s doorstep. You will be responsible for further transport beyond that point. We recommend asking a family member or friend for an extra hand; alternatively, you may upgrade to In-Home Delivery (see below).
The delivery partner will email and/or call you at least one day in advance to arrange a delivery time.
A wooden crate may be used for intercontinental shipments for maximum protection.
Item will be left in its packaging after delivery.
A signature will be required upon delivery.

In-Home Delivery:
(For in-home delivery service, additional fees apply. Please get in touch)

A skilled driver or a team of two will bring your item(s) inside your home and place it in the immediate entryway. For unusually large or heavy items, we recommend asking a family member or friend for an extra hand, as we cannot send more than 2 drivers.
The delivery partner will email and/or call you one day in advance to arrange a delivery time.
A wooden crate may be used for intercontinental shipments for maximum protection.
Item will be left in its packaging after delivery.
A signature will be required upon delivery.

*Important Note

Please examine every order upon delivery. In the event that there are visible signs of damage or missing or incorrect pieces, please indicate the problem on the Delivery Note and contact us within 48 hours of delivery. A signed delivery receipt without notations of missing, damaged, or incorrect item(s) represents your acceptance of the complete order in perfect condition.

About the Maker

Pastoe

Pastoe’s story began in 1913 in Utrecht, when German-Dutch businessman Frits Loeb (1889-1959) decided to produce chairs in a traditional cabinetmaking workshop to sell in his own shop. His atelier—named Utrechtsche Machinale Stoel-en Meubelfabrik (UMS) at the time—quickly grew and in 1917 moved into a large factory facility, manufacturing furniture for a range of retail outlets. In 1918, the factory was moved again to the Rotsoord area in Utrecht, where it is still located today. While the early furniture lines produced by UMS were intended for a general audience, the company—under the direction of designer-manager D. L. Braakman (1885-1966)—was one of the first in the Netherlands to adopt a more austere, minimalist aesthetic expressed in then-novel materials like tubular steel and bent plywood. The Dutch market was slow to respond to these designs, so it was all the more audacious when UMS, in 1947, became dedicated to producing only modernist furniture. To reflect the new mission, the company’s name was changed to Pastoe.

In 1848, Cees Braakman (1917-1995), D. L.’s son, took the helm as designer and director and furthered the company’s modernist aims, advocating for low-cost, modular designs inspired by the likes of Charles & Ray Eames and Alvar Aalto—the latter of which created the first series of Pastoe geometric cabinets at the end of the 1940s. During the 1950s, the company focused on developing flexible cabinet systems that could be assembled by the consumer, which led to the highly customizable, highly successful Made-to-Measure storage system (1955). In 1957, Made-to-Measure furniture was awarded a silver medal at the 11th Trienniale in Milan and crowned with the Le Signe d’Or in Belgium.

Today Pastoe continues to manufacture formally simple, high-quality furniture, including cabinet systems, storage pieces, chairs, and more. Many of Pastoe’s designs have attained an iconic status, such as Cees Braakman’s SMO5 Chair (1958), one of the first stools to be entirely fabricated in steel wire, and Studio Pastoe’s L-Series Cabinet (1979). Recent collaborations include projects with the late, great Belgian designer Maarten Van Severen, German designer Konstantin Grcic, and rising-star Dutch studio Scholten & Baijings.

Pastoe’s objects have been exhibited in galleries and museums broadly, including the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Museum of Modern Art in New York, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark, and the in Amsterdam.

* All images courtesy of Pastoe