Klaas Gubbels’ wooden coffee pot is an orange colored interpretation of his iconic subject. He created the coffee pot in thousands of variations using a remarkable variety of techniques.
The wooden coffee pot by Klaas Gubbels from 2004: “Orange Coffee Pot”.
Gubbels painted and drew the coffee pot in countless variations, produced etchings, screen prints and lithographs, cut two hundred versions from cardboard, modelled it in clay and constructed sculptures in iron. This restored wooden Orange Coffee Pot was offered for sale on Kunstveiling.nl in the summer of 2026, with an opening bid of €1,250.
Dutch artist Klaas Gubbels (1934) is one of the most recognizable artists of his generation. Since the 1950s he has built an oeuvre that, at first glance, appears surprisingly simple. The same motifs return again and again: a coffee pot, a table, a chair, a chessboard or a bottle.
The Power of Repetition
Yet it is precisely in this repetition that Gubbels’ greatest strength lies. He demonstrates that an everyday object can be an inexhaustible source of artistic renewal. Just as the Italian painter Giorgio Morandi endlessly explored his bottles and vases, Gubbels made the coffee pot his personal icon. Today, “his” coffee pot is instantly recognizable, thanks to the power of repetition.
Gubbels began painting an old enamel coffee kettle that he had at home while he was still a student at the art academy in Rotterdam. He was fascinated by its shape: simple, powerful and immediately recognizable. That single object continued to challenge him throughout his career.
The coffee pot soon ceased to be a subject in itself and became a tool instead. Gubbels repeatedly explained that his work is not really about coffee pots, but about painting itself: composition, colour, form, space and tension. Once the subject is fixed, all attention can be directed towards the art of painting.
As he once said: “I deliberately want to turn something boring into something that isn’t. I want the boring to become something.”
The wooden coffee pot, signed by Gubbels.
By using the same motif over and over again, Gubbels continually challenged himself to discover something new. The challenge was never to find a new subject, but to find a new solution. He has pursued this artistic quest for almost seventy years, as can also be seen in the documentary The Universe of Klaas Gubbels.
The Coffee Pot Has Been Restored
It was only natural that he would eventually make a wooden version as well. Although it appears monumental in photographs, the sculpture is actually quite modest in size, measuring just 35 × 25 × 6 cm (h × w × d). Kunstveiling.nl notes:
“The sculpture (2004) has been professionally restored. The spout was broken in the past, but has been expertly repaired, including the tip of the spout. The restoration has been carried out with great care and does not detract from the appearance of the object.”
Perhaps woodworking was not Gubbels’ most successful technical adventure. Or perhaps a previous owner simply dropped the sculpture. Either way, this small wooden artwork is unmistakably a Gubbels—instantly recognizable among thousands.
Jan Bom
28 June 2026
