3x Armlehnstuhl der Secession, Carbaret Fledermaus, J. Hoffmann, Thonet/Mundus
About the Item
- Creator:
- Dimensions:Height: 29.53 in (75 cm)Width: 20.08 in (51 cm)Depth: 17.33 in (44 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 3
- Style:Vienna Secession (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:1910-1919
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1915
- Condition:Refinished. Reupholstered.
- Seller Location:Wien, AT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU9181236211182
Josef Hoffmann
The Austrian architect Josef Hoffmann was a central figure in the evolution of modern design, and a leader in an aesthetic movement born in Europe in the late 19th century that rejected florid, extravagant ornamentation in favor of a new emphasis on simplicity of line.
As a founder of the Vienna Secession — a union of artists and designers determined to upend Austria’s artistic conservatism — and later, a founder of the turn-of-the-century Wiener Werkstätte (in English: the Viennese Workshops), a design cooperative that produced superbly crafted furniture and housewares, Hoffmann was a pioneering practitioner of what would become a fundamental principle of modernism: that good design is a way of life.
Hoffmann came of age amidst a shift in the culture of the applied arts, as a conservative order that looked only to the past for inspiration was pushed aside. But what, exactly, would replace that order was in question — and Hoffmann’s career embodies the developing patterns of design’s new spirit. His architectural work reflects his time as a student of the Vienna architect Otto Wagner, who disdained excessive decoration and employed new materials such as steel girders and reinforced concrete to create buildings with airy, open interiors full of light.
As a designer of furniture and interiors, Hoffmann was consistently open-minded about the aesthetics he explored. He was an early adherent of the flowing, organic forms of the Art Nouveau design movement that began to flourish in the late 1880s — but by the opening of the Wiener Werkstätte in 1903, Hoffmann’s designs embraced the beauty of geometry in pieces that feature grids and angular forms.
Hoffmann’s greatest works reflect his ability to combine seemingly conflicting design visions into coherent wholes. His architectural masterpiece, the Stoclet Palace in Brussels, has an exterior that groups together simple geometric forms and spacious interiors marked by subtly naturalistic design details that lend rooms an air of charm and geniality.
Hoffmann’s signature furniture design is an adjustable lounge chair — the Sitzmaschine (1905) — that marries a curving frame with square and rectangular back- and side rests. This piece, like so many others by Hoffmann, reflects a groundbreaking, forward-thinking appreciation for the union of different looks and sources that marks the best of interior design in our own day. Moreover, items offered on 1stDibs — which range from enameled silver jewelry, to silver flower vase baskets and other decorative objects, to sofas, lighting pendants and sconces — testify to the astonishing breadth of Hoffman’s creative pursuits. He was truly a giant of design.
Thonet-Mundus
For more than 180 years, Thonet — or Gebrüder Thonet — has produced elegant and durable tables and cabinets as well as chairs, stools and other seating that wholly blur the lines between art and design. Widely known as a trailblazer in the use of bentwood in furniture, the European manufacturer has reimagined the places in which we gather.
Changes in the organizational structure of Thonet since its inception in 1853 included a merger with Mundus, a Viennese company that Rudolf Weill & Co.'s Leopold Pilzer founded in 1907. Mundus was a joint stock firm that comprised a range of small bentwood furniture makers. The Thonet and Mundus merger took place in the early 20th century, which followed Mundus’s becoming a majority stakeholder in J. & J. Kohn. The merger yielded the formation of Thonet-Mundus in 1922.
Noted for his skill in parquetry, German-Austrian company founder Michael Thonet received an invitation from Austrian Chancellor Prince Metternich to contribute Neo-Rococo interiors to the Liechtenstein City Palace in Vienna. The Boppard-born Thonet had honed his carpentry skills in his father’s workshop, where he carried out experiments with plywood and modified the Biedermeier chairs that populated the studio.
Thonet’s work for the chancellor raised his profile, and the cabinetmaker gained international recognition, including at London’s Great Exhibition of 1851, which featured works created by members of the Arts and Crafts movement as well as industrial products of the day. Thonet showed a range of furniture at the fair and won the bronze medal for his bentwood chairs. He incorporated his family’s company, the Thonet Brothers, with his sons in 1853.
Bentwood furniture dates as far back as the Middle Ages, but it is the 19th-century cabinetmaker Thonet who is most often associated with this now-classic technique. Thonet in 1856 patented a method for bending solid wood through the use of steam, and from there, the bentwood look skyrocketed to furniture fame. The works of renowned mid-century modern designers such as Alvar Aalto, Arne Jacobsen, and Charles and Ray Eames that put this technological advancement to use would not be as extensive or celebrated were it not for the efforts of the pioneering Thonet.
Considered the world’s oldest mass-produced chair, Michael Thonet’s ubiquitous Chair No. 14 demonstrated that his patented bentwood technology made it possible to efficiently produce furniture on an industrial scale. Now known as the 214, it won the German Sustainability Award Design for 2021, a recognition of the company’s commitment to environmentally responsible production.
Often called the Coffee House chair — the company’s first substantial order was for a Viennese coffeehouse — the No. 14 remains an icon. Thonet originally designed the chair in 1859, and it is considered the starting point for modern furniture.
The bentwood process opened doors — there were investments in machinery and new industrial processes, and the business began mass-producing furniture. By the end of the 1850s, there were additional Thonet workshops in Eastern Europe and hundreds of employees. Michael Thonet’s reputation attracted the attention of notable architects including Otto Wagner, Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
The No. 14 was followed by the No. 18, or the Bistro chair, in 1867, and the 209, or the Architect’s chair, of which Le Corbusier was a fan. (The influential Swiss-French architect and designer used Thonet furniture in his Pavillon de l’Esprit Nouveau at the 1925 International Exposition of Decorative Arts in Paris.)
Thonet’s chair designs also appeared in artwork by Toulouse-Lautrec, John Sloan and Henri Matisse in his Interior with a Violin Case. The noteworthy Thonet rocking chair remains a marvel of construction — in the middle of the 19th century, Michael produced a series of rockers in which the different curved parts were integrated into fluid, sinuous wholes. Thanks to Thonet, the humble rocker acquired something unexpected: style. It was captured in the paintings of Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and James Tissot.
Thonet is currently split into global divisions. Thonet Industries U.S.A. was acquired in 1987 by Shelby Williams and joined the CF Group in 1999, while the Thonet brand in Germany is owned by Thonet GmbH.
Find antique Thonet-Mundus furniture on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Wien, Austria
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- 2x Original Fledermaus Armchair, Gustav Siegel/Josef Hoffmann, Thonet-MundusBy Gustav Siegel, Josef Hoffmann, Thonet-MundusLocated in Wien, ATObjekt: Armlehnstuhl (2 Exemplare vorhanden) Entwurf: Gustav Siegel / Josef Hoffmann, Wien um 1905 Modell-Nummer: 728 A (J. & J. Kohn) / 410 (Mundus) Ausführung: Thonet-Mundus, Wien ...Category
Vintage 1920s Austrian Vienna Secession Armchairs
MaterialsFabric, Beech, Bentwood
- Secession Armchair by Otto Wagner/Gustav Siegel, Thonet Brothers (Vienna, 1905)By Otto Wagner, Gustav Siegel, ThonetLocated in Wien, ATObjekt: Armlehnsessel Entwurf: Gustav Siegel, Wien um 1899 (nicht Otto Wagner, nach Renzi 2018) Modell-Nummer: Modell 6142 (abgeleitet von Modell 714/F von Jacob & Josef Kohn) Ausfüh...Category
Antique Early 1900s Austrian Vienna Secession Armchairs
MaterialsBeech
- Secession Sidetable, attr. to J. Hoffmann, ex. by Fischel & Söhne (CZK, 1915)By Josef Hoffmann, D. G. FischellLocated in Wien, ATObjekt: Kleintisch Entwurf: Josef Hoffmann zugeschrieben, Wien um 1910 Modell-Nummer: 960/2 (Jacob & Josef Kohn) Ausführung: D.G. Fischel & Söhne, Niemes in Böhmen um 1915 (CZK) Maße...Category
Vintage 1910s Czech Vienna Secession Side Tables
MaterialsBeech
- 2x secessionistic armchair by Marcel Kammerer (attr.), Mundus (Vienna, ca. 1915)By Thonet-Mundus, Marcel KammererLocated in Wien, ATObjekt: 2 x Armlehnstuhl Entwurf: Marcel Kammerer zugeschrieben (Wien, um 1910) Modell-Nummer: Symbiose (Luxusausführung) aus Modell 6522 & 6528 (für Gebrüder Thonet) Ausführung: Mun...Category
Vintage 1910s Austrian Vienna Secession Armchairs
MaterialsBrass
- Vienna Secession Armchair by Gustav Siegel for J.J.Kohn, Modell 715/F, 1899By Gustav Siegel, Jacob & Josef KohnLocated in Wien, ATObjekt: Armlehnstuhl (mehrere Exemplare in unterschiedlicher Ausführung vorhanden) Entwurf: Gustav Siegel, Wien um 1899 Modell-Nummer: 715F Ausführung: Jacob & Josef Kohn, Wien um 19...Category
Antique Early 1900s Austrian Vienna Secession Armchairs
MaterialsBrass
- 4x Original Jugendstil Stuhl, Entw: J. Hoffmann zugeschrieben, Ausf: J.&J. KohnBy Jacob & Josef Kohn, Josef HoffmannLocated in Wien, ATObjekt: Stuhl (Set mit 4 Stück) Entwurf: Josef Hoffmann (zugeschrieben, Wien, 1907-1908) Modell-Nummer: 369/1 L4 Ausführung: Jacob & Josef Kohn (Holesov/CZK, ab 1908) Maße in cm (H x...Category
Antique Early 1900s Austrian Vienna Secession Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsBrass
- Fledermaus Secession Armchairs No.423By Josef HoffmannLocated in Banská Štiavnica, SKFledermaus secession armchairs no.423 designed by Josef Hoffmann for the Fledermaus Cabaret in 1905. Made by J&J Kohn, beautiful original preservation, stains on two seats.Category
Antique Early 1900s Austrian Vienna Secession Armchairs
MaterialsBeech
- Pair of Secession Josef Hoffmann Chairs Ex. by ThonetBy Josef HoffmannLocated in Banská Štiavnica, SKPair of secession Josef Hoffmann chairs ex. by Thonet. Professionally stained and repolished.Category
Antique Early 1900s Austrian Vienna Secession Chairs
MaterialsBentwood
- Josef Hoffmann "Fledermaus" Bat Seating Group, Suite, Thonet, Art Nouveau, DecoBy Josef HoffmannLocated in Berlin, DEJosef Hoffmann "Fledermaus" bat seating group. Suite. Thonet. Consisting of four chairs and matching table. The seating group is still in its original ...Category
Early 20th Century Vienna Secession Chairs
- Early 20th Century Bentwood Bench Settee by J. Hoffmann for Thonet - MundusBy Thonet-Mundus, Josef HoffmannLocated in Wrocław, PolandThis exceptional bentwood bench settee was made in early 20th century and is attributed to Josef Hoffmann designed for Thonet - Mundus. This model appeared in the catalog in 1907, an...Category
Early 20th Century Austrian Vienna Secession Benches
MaterialsBeech, Bentwood
- Fledermaus Armchairs No.423 by Josef HoffmannBy Josef Hoffmann, ThonetLocated in Banská Štiavnica, SKFledermaus armchairs no.423 by Josef Hoffmann in very good original condition with signs of usage.Category
Antique Early 1900s Austrian Vienna Secession Armchairs
MaterialsFabric, Beech
- Set of 4 Fledermaus chairs by Josef Hoffmann For ThonetBy Josef Hoffmann, ThonetLocated in Banská Štiavnica, SKSet of 4 Fledermaus chairs by Josef Hoffmann for Thonet in very nice original condition with signs of use. Later limited edition by Thonet Vienna from 1985, signed.Category
Vintage 1980s Austrian Vienna Secession Armchairs
MaterialsFabric, Beech, Bentwood