Secessionistic Armchairs by Josef Hoffmann for Thonet, 1920s, Set of 2

Object: Armchair (2 copies available)
Design: Gustav Siegel / Josef Hoffmann, Vienna around 1905
Model number: 728 A (J. & J. Kohn) / 410 (Mundus)
Execution: Thonet-Mundus, Vienna from 1923 (first execution by J. & J.Kohn around 1905)
Dimensions in cm (H x W x D x SH): 75 x 54.5 x 50 x 48
Material: bentwood, fabric
Condition: good condition with minimal signs of wear, newly upholstered, a few inactive wormholes present, but these do not affect the stability
Provenance: Viennese private collection
Literature: Jacob & Josef Kohn catalog, 1916, p. 37 / Mundus catalog 1924, p. 37 / Bent wood – constructive designs Vienna 1840-1910, p. 73, 74 / Renzi, Il mobile moderne, p. 166-167, 169 (here attribution: Gustav Siegel)

Additional information:
The so-called “Bat Chair” was used in 1907 by the famous Austrian architect Josef Hoffmann to furnish the “Kaberett-Fledermaus” in Vienna.
A cabaret designed by Josef Hoffmann in the Viennese Secession style and executed by the Wiener Werkstätte, located at Kärnterstraße 33 / corner of Johannesgasse in Vienna’s 1st district.
The apartment building in whose basement the cabaret was located between 1907 and 1913 no longer exists today.

However, it is doubtful that the design of the bat chair was designed by Josef Hoffmann and that the series was designed specifically for cabaret.

The first version was realized by the company Jacob and Josef Kohn. The series with the number 728 first appeared in their sales catalogs in 1906. The design dates from 1905.

The fact that the model was not designed specifically for the Fledermaus cabaret is confirmed by a photograph showing the chairs at the International Exhibition in Milan in 1906.
The fact that Otto Schönthal used the same chair to furnish the Kunstschau’s café in 1908, just a few months after the cabaret opened, also refutes the theory that the chairs were designed exclusively for the Cabaret-Fledermaus.

As far as the authorship of the design is concerned, it is reported that Hoffmann student Gustav Siegel claimed to be the author of the series at a meeting with the architect Karl Mang. Siegel headed the design department of Jacob & Josef Kohn for many years. A photo of his apartment shows the chairs in a prominent place and suggests a special emotional value.
The design is probably a collaboration between the design department headed by Siegel and Josef Hoffmann.

In the Fledermaus Café, Hoffmann used the 728 chairs in a two-tone version (white with black balls and vice versa) along with the 421 chairs.

The bat chairs were immediately very successful, so that other companies such as Thonet and Mundus later produced similar models.