stapeltischchen t-7030

Slender and shapely: The stapeltischchen is a very practical beauty. Hans Bellmann devised this easy-to-stack nest of tables in 1954. It was produced between 1954 and the early 70s. Now, after almost 40 years, it is awakened from its deep sleep to start its second career.

Bellmann’s main concern was to design functional and easily moveable furniture. Rooms in those days were, however, mostly furnished with farmhouse and country-style furniture. The flexible and lightweight furniture designs of the 50s bewildered the people while particularly reflecting the zeitgeist. Bellmann, like many of his contemporaries, wanted his designs to be easy to take apart and as economical in means as possible.

Apart from material-saving constructions and quick assembly, the main benefit of this design is its extremely flexible use. As its name indicates, the little table is easy to stack. You can carry it from one room to the next, or take it from indoors to outdoors. Hans Bellmann himself liked using the stapeltischchen to deposit his painting utensils. It enabled him to work very flexibly and move the table, laden with a host of different things, to wherever he needed it.

horgenglarus catalogues from the 50s and 60s confirm that the little tables were a regular feature of the Glarner Manufaktur product line. It was produced in Glarus from 1954 to 1970. The idea to bring it back is already a few years old. For decades, the attic of Switzerland’s oldest manufacturer of tables and chairs has held original parts of the little table, historic moulded parts from the 50s and exact prototypes of the stapeltischchen’s individual components. This made it possible to convert the original dimensions of the table to its update and rebuild an exact copy.

"Tray table- elegant and hard to find!" it says on websites for vintage furniture. The stapeltischchen is listed there as a very special retro design gem. While it is almost impossible to source the original 50s product, its delicate design was already appreciated back then: in 1960, the concept called "easy-to-stack nest of tables" received its first award "Die gute Form" from the Swiss Association of Workmen.

The update is available after November 2016 in walnut or beech, in a natural, black, or stained finish. With the wooden tray and the flaring matte black legs, the table top

and legs are very distinct in terms of texture and material choice. The tray is 53 × 43 cm and rises to a height of 39 cm on delicate legs. As with other Bellmann designs, his einpunktstuhl or ateliertisch, for example, the stapeltischchen has flaring legs with a central attachment. Since the 50s, Bellmann was using the same principle: two screws and four contact surfaces, except for the einpunktstuhl—whose name itself suggests that only one screw was used.

Bellmann’s stapeltischchen is yet another timeless and shapely concept of a Swiss designer and architect to be added to horgenglarus’ product line. The updates’ launch is kicked off by a limited and numbered special edition in three of the original 50s colours. We will produce 105 copies in each original colour because it would have been Hans Bellmann’s 105th birthday in September 2016.