Untitled / Armchair from the series “Moderne Holzmöbel mit Rohrgeflecht“

Wilhelm Schmidt

This armchair is an example of the ‘modern wooden furniture with cane work’ designed by proponents of Viennese Modernism around 1902 and manufactured and marketed under the same banner by the Prag-Rudniker Korbfabrikation in Rudnik. The designers included the painter Koloman Moser, who was a professor at the Kunstgewerbeschule am Österreichischen Museum für Kunst und Industrie, and the architects Hans Vollmer, Josef Zotti, and Wilhelm Schmidt, the last of whom designed the chair shown here. The frame of the armchair is made of wood from the field elm tree. The seat, sides, and backrest are made of cane, which was also used for bentwood chairs. As for the chair’s form, the four legs continue straight up to support the three horizontal lengths of wood that constitute the armrests and the crest of the chair. The seat, sides, and backrest are formed by caned panels inserted into the frame. The model also has four stretchers connecting the feet to prevent shearing and improve sturdiness. The architect-designed models manufactured by the Prag-Rudniker Korbfabrikation are in fact early examples of functional furniture design in the Viennese Modernist style. Text: Eva B. Ottillinger