Diplomatic Encounters. Jules Wabbes and the Production of American Dunbar Furniture in Brussels

Abstract

In the first decades following the Second World War, several renowned American furniture brands entered the western European market.One of the well-known examples is Knoll International, a New York-based producer of "international style" furniture, which since 1951 set up sale and production licenses outside the US (Lutz 2010).Other American companies followed.This article discusses the introduction in 1959 of Dunbar furniture in Europe.The Indiana based Dunbar Company was known for producing an accessible version of modern design, which combined elements of traditional craft with a contemporary look (Gura et.al. 1997).The firm was introduced on the European market through a 1958 license agreement with the Brussels based Jules Wabbes, today considered one of the most original designers of high-end office furniture of his generation in Belgium (XXX 1958, Ferran-Wabbes et.al. 2012).What motivated both parties to set up an official collaboration?As this article will show both Dunbar and Wabbes had the ambition to expand their clientele through contributing in the promotion of America's cultural and political identity in the Cold War years.One project in particular functioned as a catalyst in this process: the new American embassy in The Hague by architect Marcel Breuer.The interiors of this building were furnished with Dunbar furniture produced by Wabbes in Brussels.Although as a designer Wabbes remained in the background, the embassy project provided new opportunities in the identity construction of his own work, which he preferred to characterize as "universal".

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