J. & J. KOHN / K. MOSER attr.
Designed by | Vienna, around 1902 |
Executed by | J. & J. Kohn, model no. 600/5, subsequently model no. 3106 |
Marked | Not marked |
Dimensions | H 188 cm, W 116 cm, D 42 cm |
Material | Bent beech and plywood, stained and polished, brass cuffs and studs, facetted and cut glass, faceted mirrors renewed, surface slightly repolished, very good original condition |
Provenance | private collection, USA |
Shown | Detroit Institute of Arts, Decorative Arts 1900: Highlights from Private Collections in Detroit, November 1993 - January 1994, p. 91, cat. no. 109 |
Literature | S. Wichmann, Jugendstil Art Nouveau: Floral and Functional Forms, 1984, p. 159; J. Kallir, Viennese Design and the Wiener Werkstatte, exh. cat., Galerie St. Etienne, New York, 1986, p. 82, no. 15; Italian sales cat. J. & J. Kohn, 1906; G. Renzi, Il mobile moderno, Gebrüder Thonet Vienna, Jacob & Josef Kohn, Milan, 2008, p. 110 f |
Josef Hoffmann, just like Koloman Moser, designed furniture for the manufacturers of bentwood furniture Jacob & Josef Kohn. As the Kohn company had their own design office, managed by Gustav Siegl – an Otto Wagner student –, Kohn also adopted the new style’s formal language and design features, integrating them with slight variations into their own furniture series programme.
This cabinet is depicted in numerous Kohn sales catalogues from this period. Unfortunately, the designer of this excellent piece is not mentioned in any of them. There is, however, a close stylistic similarity to a desk, Koloman Moser designed for the Jacob & Josef Kohn company in 1900, which we also present in our range. What is more, the cabinet also featured in a 1904 Kohn sales catalogue alongside the cabinet model no. 600/4, a verified Koloman Moser design from 1900.
As registered trademark, the furniture produced by the Kohn company is often marked with a paper label or brand mark carrying the inscription: Jacob & Josef Kohn.
H02.2/23