Beech bentwood, stained dark brown, plywood
Austria, Vienna, around 1904
Manufacturer: Jacob & Josef Kohn – Austrian-Hungarian bentwood manufactory
Design by Gustav Siegel (1880-1970) – Austrian interior decorator and furniture designer, chief designer at Jacob & Josef Kohn
Model no. 814
Loop-like runner construction, corresponding armrests
Trapezoidal seat of vertically layered plywood
Conical, slightly curved upright-oblong backrest
Traces of a factory label
Dimensions: 90 x 55 x approx. 90 cm; Seat height: 48 cm
Good, age-appropriate condition

This beautifully curved rocking chair, model no. 814, originates from 1904. It was manufactured by Jacob & Josef Kohn after the design of Gustav Siegel and is made of stained dark brown beech bentwood. The backrest is open worked and the trapezoidal seat is slightly curved for a perfect seating comfort. Runners and armrests are correspondingly looped and add to the lightweight and uncomplicated design of the chair. The style is already foreshadowing the maxim ‘form follows function’ that became leitmotif of furniture design a short time thereafter.



The rocking chair bears traces of a factory label. The chair is in a good, age-appropriate condition with slight scratches, bumps, minimal blemishes and rubbing. The dimensions of the furniture are 90 x 55 x approx. 90 cm; the seat height measures 48 cm.



Jakob & Josef Kohn

Jacob Kohn (1791–1866) founded his company together with his son Josef (1814–1884) in 1849. They produced wooden components and soon began producing bentwood. They opened production centers in Bohemia, Krakow and Russia and already in 1900 more than 6300 workers were busy producing more than 5500 pieces of furniture each day. Thanks to the cooperation with such renowned artists as Josef Hoffmann, Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos and Gustav Siegel, the company soon made a name for itself as the producer of fashionable and modern furniture. They received many awards, gold medals and even medals from Austria, Spain, Belgium and Russia. The company merged with the Mundus AG in 1914 that also produced for Thonet (Thonet-Kohn-Mundus). Pieces of furniture by Kohn can today be seen in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris as well as in the Museum for applied art, the MAK Vienna. (nlu)

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