Josef Hoffmann
SEVEN-BALL ARMCHAIR
Josef Hoffmann
SEVEN-BALL ARMCHAIR
Bel Etage, Wolfgang Bauer, Vienna
Date 1907/08
Period 20th century
Origin Austria
Medium Dyed to rosewood, Bent beech and plywood
Dimension 111 x 57.5 x 63 cm (43³/₄ x 22⁵/₈ x 24³/₄ inches)
Designed by: Josef Hoffmann, Vienna, 1907/08
Executed by: J. & J. Kohn, from 1908 on, model no. 371
Surface professionally, small parts of plywood replaced, two upper balls of the chair replaced, good condition.
Armchair H 111 cm, SH 47 cm, W 57.5 cm, D 63 cm
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 settee. For me, the seven-ball settee, armchair and chairs are amongst the most modern and pioneering designs that Hoffmann ever developed for serial production by J. & J. Kohn.
As their design was deemed very avant-garde at the time, only few such pieces were sold and are now among the most sought-after collector’s items of Josef Hoffmann’s entire oeuvre.
To my knowledge, these two seven-ball pieces of furniture are the only ones that
correspond exactly to the ones shown at the Kunstschau 1908.
Date: 1907/08
Period: 20th century
Origin: Austria
Medium: Dyed to rosewood, Bent beech and plywood
Dimension: 111 x 57.5 x 63 cm (43³/₄ x 22⁵/₈ x 24³/₄ inches)
Provenance: Private property, Italy
Literature:
Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, Bd. XXIII, 1908/1909, p. 37; 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, p. 206 f.; Fremdkörper (ed.), Moderne Möbel, 150 Jahre Design,
2009, p. 658, M. Kristan, Kunstschau Wien 1908, Weitra 2016, p. 160
Bel Etage, Wolfgang Bauer, Vienna
Viennese Jugendstil, Secessionist Movement
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