ADOLF LOOS
| About the artist | Brno 1870 – 1933 Kalksburg near Vienna |
| Designed by | Adolf Loos, Vienna, 1898 |
| Executed by | J. & J. Kohn, mod. No. 909 b, unlabelled |
| Dimensions | H 77 cm, Ø 65 cm |
| Material | Bent beech dyed to rosewood, surface professionally repolished, original brass fittings (polished), marble top with traces of use, very nice condition |
| Provenance | private property, Austria |
| Literature | Cf. E. B. Ottillinger, Adolf Loos, Wohnkonzepte und Möbelentwürfe, Vienna, 1994, p. 36; Sales catalogue J. &. J. Kohn, Vienna, 1916, p. 76 |
The brass fittings attached to the legs are only found on tables used in the Café Museum and 2 other Viennese cafés.
Adolf Loos designed the interior of the Café Museum in Vienna in 1898. His famous Café Museum chair and the accompanying table are icons of modernism today. (See catalogue no. 31).
Loos originally wanted to have the furniture produced by Thonet, but could not convince the management of his ideas. So he turned to the Kohn brothers, who had been present on the large furniture market of the Austrian monarchy since the expiry of Thonet's bentwood patents in 1868 and were happy to take on the project. Adolf Loos' ideas made Kohn a far more innovative producer of bentwood furniture than Thonet, who in turn now began to copy the designs commissioned by Kohn, such as designs by Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann and Gustav Siegel, in modified form. Thonet also commissioned various designers themselves, such as Marcel Kammerer or Otto Prutscher, with designs for bentwood furniture.
H31/21
