A bentwood and leather chair model 725 BF

THE DESIGN ATTRIBUTED TO JOSEF HOFFMANN OR GUSTAV SIEGEL CIRCA 1902, MANUFACTURED BY J. & J. KOHN

細節
A bentwood and leather chair model 725 BF
The design attributed to Josef Hoffmann or Gustav Siegel circa 1902, manufactured by J. & J. Kohn
Leather seat and back, set on brass ball feet
34.3/8in. (87.4cm.) high
Branded mark J and J Kohn..(indistinct)

拍品專文

The traditional attribution of this chair to Koloman Moser is challenged by Ostergard (op. cit.). He argues that the simplicity of the design belies the technical sophistication and understanding of the bentwood process required to produce the finished product, and suggests that the designer who could have fulfilled both these aspects is more likely to have been Gustav Siegel, then director of J. & J. Kohn.
The favoured attribution of this design to Hoffmann is strongly supported by aesthetic rather than technical arguments. There is a clear parallel between this design with its distinctive splayed 'U' base, and similar equally reduced forms created by Hoffmann at about this time in his work for private clients such as Fritz Wärndorfer and the Wittgenstein family.
The model first appeared in the Kohn catalogues in 1902 as number 725BF, and remained in production until 1916.
See: Ostergard (ed.), exh. cat. no. 40, p. 239.
See also: Ibid., p. 102, this model in Kohn's Berlin showrooms of 1906, reproduced from Berliner Architekturwelt, 1906.