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SEVEN-BALL CHAIR
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Josef Hoffmann

SEVEN-BALL CHAIR

Bel Etage, Wolfgang Bauer, Vienna

Date 1908

Period 20th century

Origin Vienna

Medium Bent beech wood, Stained

Dimension 108 x 44 x 44 cm (42¹/₂ x 17³/₈ x 17³/₈ inches)

Designed by: Josef Hoffmann, Vienna, 1907/08
Executed by: J. & J. Kohn, from 1908 on, model no. 371

Surface cleaned and slightly repolished, new upholstery covered with an original Jugendstil fabric.

J. & J. Kohn commissioned Josef Hoffmann to design a reasonably priced house complete with fixtures, fittings and furniture for the Kunstschau 1908. To furnish the house, Hoffmann used many pieces of his already well-known furniture such as the "sitting machine", the so-called "Fledermaus" suite etc. On the veranda, there was also a seven-ball bench. For me, the seven-ball bench, armchair and chairs are amongst the most modern and pioneering designs that Hoffmann ever developed for serial production by J. & J. Kohn. This design is truly one of the precursors of modernism. As is often the case, the prophet was not heard in his own land, and few chairs of this design were sold. This is also one of the reasons why it is one of the most sought-after collector’s items of Josef Hoffmann’s entire oeuvre.

Date: 1908

Period: 20th century

Origin: Vienna

Medium: Bent beech wood, Stained

Dimension: 108 x 44 x 44 cm (42¹/₂ x 17³/₈ x 17³/₈ inches)

Provenance: Private collection, Germany

Literature: Ref.: J. & J. Kohn sales catalogue, 1909; Moderne Bauformen VII, 1908, p. 368; G. Renzi, Il mobile moderno, Gebrüder Thonet Vienna, Jacob & Josef Kohn, Milan, 2008, pp. 206 f.; Fremdkörper (ed.), Moderne Möbel, 150 Jahre Design, 2009, p. 658

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Bel Etage, Wolfgang Bauer, Vienna

Viennese Jugendstil, Secessionist Movement

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