Art Nouveau Model Number 718/F Armchairs by Otto Wagner for Jacob & Josef Kohn, 1901, Set of 2

Object: Armchair (2 copies available)
Design: Otto Wagner (Vienna, around 1901)
Model number: 718/F
Execution: First execution: J. J. Kohn (Vienna, around 1902) / these copies: Mundus (from 1914)
Dimensions in cm (H x W x D): 79 x 55 x 57
Materials: bentwood (rosewood stained & shellac hand-polished), fabric (original Backhausen, model “Wiener Sehnsucht” – design by Prof. Josef Hoffmann, Vienna around 1904)
Condition: professionally restored
Provenance: Vienna
Literature: The Interior IV, 1903, Vienna, p. 77 / Mundus – Vienna, catalog bentwood furniture 1910, Michaela Bosewitz, Nordestedt, 2021, p. 72 / Bent Wood and metal furniture 1850 – 1946, 1987, p. 114 / Bent wood – Constructive designs Vienna 1840-1910, p. 52 / Il mobile moderno, Gebrüder Thonet Vienna, Jacob & Josef Kohn, Giovanni Renzi, 2008, p. 88-89 / Josef Hoffmann and his circle – Furniture 1900-1930, Galerie Alt Wien Munich, p. 32 / La poltrona moderna – the modern armchair, Renzi & Borgia, 2018 / La poltrona moderna – the modern armchair, Renzi & Borgia, 2018, p. 28-29 / Wagner, Hoffmann, Loos and the Viennese Modernism, Eva B. Ottilinger, 2018, pp. 34-36

Additional Information:
On December 27, 1902, the mailing hall of the daily newspaper “Die Zeit” was opened. Otto Wagner was responsible for the redesign and the entire room furnishings and designed a special armchair for the room, which was published in “Das Interieur” (“Das Interieur IV”, volume 1903, p. 76f). There are further references to this chair in a supplement to a Kohn catalog from 1902. It is clear that Siegel’s 1900 Paris exhibition chair, model number 715 – the “World’s Fair Armchair” – was the basis for Wagner’s design was.

Instead of the two rear legs being bent from a single U-shaped piece (as on model #718), they are now inserted separately into the backrest. There is a fabric covering between the two back struts. The armchair appears less rounded in shape. The area between the front legs is equipped with perfectly inserted aluminum crossbars. The legs are protected at the bottom with aluminum or brass shoes, which have a slightly biting round plate. In current production, customers can also order the model without shoes or always in brass, but traditional.