1905 August Ungethüm Viennese Secessionist Mahogany Wood Finished Buffetschrank Art Nouveau Sideboard

Description

August Ungethüm Kunst Mobelfabrik, Wien, buffetschrank ( buffet cabinet ) from 1905 is among the finest examples of Vienna Secession … more August Ungethüm Kunst Mobelfabrik, Wien, buffetschrank ( buffet cabinet ) from 1905 is among the finest examples of Vienna Secession movement furniture.

A version of this sideboard model from the collection of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts is featured in the Art Nouveau furniture book, "Möbel des Jugendstils: Sammlung des Österreichischen Museums für Angewandte Kunst" by Vera J. Behal ( see image ). The description in the book attributes this design to the architect August Ungethüm, Junior, based on comparisons with some published furniture designs by him as the company's co-owner.


DESCRIPTION

The August Ungethüm buffet was produced during the 1902 to 1906 period when the company was manufacturing dinner suites comprising the main sideboard, a smaller sideboard, a long-case clock, a dining table, and six chairs.

The two-piece box structure features oak wood interiors and a brown mahogany wood exterior.

The top of the back wall is curved and features flat-carved Art Nouveau style peacock feathers at each end that curve gracefully over a display shelf.

Across the top are three glazed door storage cabinets housing one shelf apiece. The doors feature square and rectangular faceted colorless glass panes in brass lattice. Each door front is embellished with a pierced brass keyhole escutcheon. The locks do work and keys are provided.

A tin furniture label is attached at the top of the central cabinet frame interior. The label reads, "Kunst-Mobel-Fabrik August Ungethüm, Wien, V. Obere Amtshausgasse Nr. 27".

In between the cabinets are two recessed areas illuminated by light coming in through square faceted colorless glass panes inset into the side panels of the cabinets. The back walls of the recesses are decorated with flat-carved fruit and leaf motifs over open slat lyre or harp shapes.

The shaped side supports feature open slats surmounting four square faceted colorless glass panes under which are more open slats, the central slat being fluted, carved leaf and berry motifs at upper corners, and carved berry ornament roundels at lower corners. The same decoration is repeated at each end of the mirror on the back wall.


ABOUT THE BERRY MOTIF ROUNDELS

The roundel berry decoration is likely inspired by a design Koloman Moser created within a carpet pattern in 1899. Moser repeated this motif on a 1900 German Art & Decoration magazine cover and as a relief print in 1901. Moser designed furniture for August Ungethüm and August Ungethüm, Jr. is known to have created furniture with Koloman Moser .

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Below the upper cabinets is an open shelf with an inset shaped Grand Antique black and white marble top.


ABOUT THE MARBLE TOP

The elegant Grand Antique marble top was quarried from the River Lez valley in France mainly in ancient Roman times through the 6th century AD and sporadically after that time. The quarry opened again in the 19th century and closed in the late 20th century. The quarry has recently reopened once more.

The marble shows a striking and unique contrast of black limestone with white calcite not shared with any other type of marble. The stone is a tectonic breccia formed during the Late Cretaceous Period, following the corrugation of the North Pyrenean area about 65 million years ago. It is considered the most precious marble of the French Pyrenees.

The very rare Grand Antique marble was used to sculpt the Jules Hardouin-Mansart designed Solomonic columns supporting the gilded canopy over the main altar of Saint Louis des Invalides Church in Paris and Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann used the marble for his Art Deco fireplaces. The marble was utilized for the tomb of Joseph Bonaparte, the statue of St. Peter in Westminster Abbey, the columns in the Tarbes Cathedral and the Diana Salon in the Palace of Versailles. It was also used to decorate the Byzantine masterpiece the Hagia Sophia.

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The back wall behind the open shelf is fitted with a rectangular beveled mirror in a molded frame.

Under the slightly protruding top is an oak pull-out plate fronted with two round brass knobs. The plate may be used as a bread board, for buffet prep, and for food service.

At the top of the buffet base are two side-by-side frieze drawers with horizontally fluted mahogany wood fronts. The drawer interiors are dove-tail constructed of oak wood. The drawers feature inset brass locks and are fronted with brass keyhole escutcheons pierced with stylized Glasgow rose motifs - a motif created by Scottish architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh, whose designs also influenced the work of architect Joseph Maria Olbrich, co-founder of the Wiener Sezession and one of the furniture designers for August Ungethüm. Attached to these backplates are shaped brass bail pulls. The locks work and keys are provided.

Below the drawers is a double-doored cabinet containing one removable shelf. The front panels feature Art Nouveau flowing foliate carvings and are set into the door frames from the back. Pierced brass backplates with attached open drop pulls embellish the front. The lock works and a key is provided.

On the ends are curved single-door cabinets, each fitted with one shaped and removable shelf. The door panels are set into the door frames from the back and feature flat-carved stylized pinecones, tulips, and flowers upon a fluted column footed tazza. The fronts are embellished with pierced brass keyhole escutcheons featuring an Arts & Crafts stylized Glasgow rose motif. The cabinets do lock and keys are included.

The side panels are framed plain brown mahogany wood.

The back is constructed of framed beveled oak panels.

The base rests on simplified mahogany wood ogee feet.

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ABOUT AUGUST UNGETHUM

August Friedrich Ungethüm, the founder of the Monster August art furniture company, was born in Eibenstock near Zwickau, Saxony, on September 4, 1834 and died around 1905 in Vienna.

He learned carpentry in Saxony and moved to Vienna, Austria around 1860.

August acquired a trade license in Vienna in 1868, joined the carpenter's cooperative there, and opened a carpentry company in Vienna Margareten, Gartengasse 19.

He bought a furniture warehouse at Matzleinsdorferstrasse 51 in 1872 and another at Vienna V, Zentagasse 6 in 1883.

In 1888 August built a three-story house in Vienna V, Obere Amtshausgasse 27. In the building he housed workshops, storage, company administration, the family apartment, and later a permanent exhibition of complete room furnishings.

August joined the Vienna Arts and Crafts Association and participated with the association in numerous domestic and foreign exhibitions, at some of which his furniture won awards, including a silver medal at the 1900 Paris Exposition.

August was granted citizenship in Vienna in 1894.

August and his wife has five sons and three of them learned carpentry from their father's company: Friedrich, from 1889- 1891; Max, from 1895-1897; and Johann, from 1898-1900.

August Ungethüm, Junior ( 1864-1911 ) was the oldest son and completed studies in architecture. He studied from 1880-1885 with Professor Hermann Herdtler at the Vienna School of Applied Arts, from 1900-1902 architecture with Otto Wagner at the Academy, and from 1904-1905 at the School of Applied Arts with Josef Hoffmann. He became a draftsman and designed furniture for the family company often alongside Kolman Moser.

Max acquired the trade license in 1908 and became head of the company in 1909.

The company was registered as a factory in 1913.

Max was entered in the commercial register as the owner of the sole proprietorship in 1913.

After World War I side houses were added to the existing building.

The world economic crisis during the 1930s forced a reduction in operations.

The business was leased after Max's death in 1947.

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This main buffet will suit interiors featuring design elements related to the Vienna Secession, Art Nouveau, École de Nancy, Jugendstil, and Arts & Crafts and will complement furniture designs by Otto Wyrtlik, Koloman Moser, and Joseph Maria Olbrich.


SIZE:

85" wide

30" deep

87" high


Buffet breaks down into three pieces for transport - the top, the base, and the marble top.

Description Author and Photo Credits: Dawn Torres-Reyes. less