Secessionist Salon Cabinet with Display Section by Prof. Josef Hoffmann for Jacob & Josef Kohn, Vienna, 1904

Details

Description

Object: secessionist salon cabinet / display cabinet (“armoire”, “glass cabinet”, “meuble de salon: bahut”)
design: josef hoffmann (vienna, circa 1903)
… Read more Object: secessionist salon cabinet / display cabinet (“armoire”, “glass cabinet”, “meuble de salon: bahut”)
design: josef hoffmann (vienna, circa 1903)
manufactured by: jacob & josef kohn (marked, vienna, from 1904)
model number: 3103
dimensions in cm (h × w × d): 180 × 93 × approx. 42
material: beech, cut glass, brass
condition: good, with age-related wear, including scratches and minor veneer losses
provenance: vienna
literature: kohn, catálogo de interiores de 1906, el showroom de burgring 3, p. 11 / jacob & josef kohn, catalogue 1907

additional dimensions:
distance between shelves: approx. 30 cm
distance from top shelf to top edge: approx. 58 cm
interior of display case: approx. 56 × 43 × 25 cm

additional information:

this salon cabinet was designed in 1903 by josef hoffmann for the viennese furniture company jacob & josef kohn. Designed under model number 3103, it went into production in 1904 and was included in the company's product line that same year. It thus belongs to a crucial phase in hoffmann's work, immediately following the founding of the wiener werkstätte in 1903 and during the increasing move away from the floral forms of early art nouveau.

during these years, josef hoffmann developed an increasingly reduced, geometrically defined design language. Clear articulation, constructive logic, and the deliberate repetition of simple geometric elements replaced ornamental excess. These principles also define this cabinet. The structure is supported by four slender, vertical columns, between which the individual functional areas of the piece are clearly delineated. The curved base and the rounded shelves combine geometric rigor with the tradition of viennese bentwood furniture.

the crowning element of the piece is particularly distinctive. Two parallel, curved wooden struts are rhythmically articulated by regularly spaced spheres. This interplay of line, circle, and repetition lends the otherwise functional piece a distinctly architectural effect. The ornamental design arises not from applied decoration, but directly from the construction and articulation of the piece itself—a fundamental principle in hoffmann's designs of this period.

the upper section features a glazed display case with polished glass panes. The beveled edges of the glass provide a deliberately understated decorative accent and contrast with the dark wood surfaces. Brass fittings complement the material composition and underscore hoffmann's interest in the precise coordination of wood, glass, and metal.

the work of jacob & josef kohn is of particular importance for the development of modern viennese furniture design. At the beginning of the 20th century, hoffmann collaborated intensively with the company, utilizing its technical expertise in bentwood production to create furniture that departed significantly from the historicist models of the 19th century. Together, they developed designs that combined the possibilities of industrial and serial production with the design principles of viennese modernism.

the salon cabinet model 3103 exemplifies this collaboration. Its combination of bentwood elements, geometric articulation, glass, and brass stands at the threshold between viennese art nouveau and the more functional design language that hoffmann further developed in the following years. At the same time, as a "meuble de salon," the piece remained explicitly intended for upscale living spaces, combining a prestigious presence with functional use.

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