Starting in 1906, Model No. 728 features in the catalogues of J. & J. Kohn alongside a canapé, armchair, stool, and round table. When Josef Hoffmann used it as seating in Vienna’s illustrious Cabaret Fledermaus a year later, the chair suddenly entered the limelight. The Fledermaus opened in the heart of Vienna in late October 1907.
The Wiener Werkstätte supplied the interior furnishings. In this undertaking headed by Josef Hoffmann, it once again succeeded in developing a coherent style for all interior design elements, even down to the most mundane objects. Among the salient design characteristics was a reduced repertoire of forms and colours, paired with stark contrasts.
These same stylistic criteria were applied to the seating. Consisting of bold vertical and horizontal lines, Hoffmann’s chair design was fully in keeping with his geometrical style of that period; even the bentwood elements had to submit to this rigour. Only the balls – as both support and ornament – provide a playful contrast.
Kohn produced several variants of the Cabaret Fledermaus suite, as did Thonet later on. The chair was very popular both as mass seating and for domestic interiors. The form – at once light and solid, austere and elegant – made it a shining example of modern Viennese style.
Text: Anne-Katrin Rossberg
