Seven Ball Bentwood Side Chair (No. 371)
Design Date c. 1906
Designer Josef Hoffmann (1870–1956, Austrian, b. Moravia)
Manufacturer Jacob & Josef Kohn (1850–1928), Vienna, Austria
Media stained beech and mahogany woods
Dimensions 43 x 17 1/4 x 19 1/2 inches
Josef Hoffmann’s Seven Ball Bentwood Side Chair (Model 371) was designed for his Kleines Landhaus in the 1908 Weiner Kunstschau, which was an art & craft exhibition held in Vienna, celebrating the anniversary of the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I. This chair is not only beautiful but a remarkably innovative use of the bentwood technique. The arches resemble shoulders and the seven balls form a sort of vertebrae on the back. Not many of these chairs were sold in Hoffmann’s lifetime, but they are a favorite of collectors today.
ON VIEW in Art Nouveau Gallery 4
Markings original paper label
Credit Line Collection Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art
Accession Number CG0507
