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Josef Hoffmann Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Austrian, 1870-1956

The Austrian architect Josef Hoffmann was a central figure in the evolution of modern design, and a leader in an aesthetic movement born in Europe in the late 19th century that rejected florid, extravagant ornamentation in favor of a new emphasis on simplicity of line.

As a founder of the Vienna Secession — a union of artists and designers determined to upend Austria’s artistic conservatism — and later, a founder of the turn-of-the-century Wiener Werkstätte (in English: the Viennese Workshops), a design cooperative that produced superbly crafted furniture and housewares, Hoffmann was a pioneering practitioner of what would become a fundamental principle of modernism: that good design is a way of life.

Hoffmann came of age amidst a shift in the culture of the applied arts, as a conservative order that looked only to the past for inspiration was pushed aside. But what, exactly, would replace that order was in question — and Hoffmann’s career embodies the developing patterns of design’s new spirit. His architectural work reflects his time as a student of the Vienna architect Otto Wagner, who disdained excessive decoration and employed new materials such as steel girders and reinforced concrete to create buildings with airy, open interiors full of light.

As a designer of furniture and interiors, Hoffmann was consistently open-minded about the aesthetics he explored. He was an early adherent of the flowing, organic forms of the Art Nouveau design movement that began to flourish in the late 1880s — but by the opening of the Wiener Werkstätte in 1903, Hoffmann’s designs embraced the beauty of geometry in pieces that feature grids and angular forms.

Hoffmann’s greatest works reflect his ability to combine seemingly conflicting design visions into coherent wholes. His architectural masterpiece, the Stoclet Palace in Brussels, has an exterior that groups together simple geometric forms and spacious interiors marked by subtly naturalistic design details that lend rooms an air of charm and geniality.

Hoffmann’s signature furniture design is an adjustable lounge chair — the Sitzmaschine (1905) — that marries a curving frame with square and rectangular back- and side rests. This piece, like so many others by Hoffmann, reflects a groundbreaking, forward-thinking appreciation for the union of different looks and sources that marks the best of interior design in our own day. Moreover, items offered on 1stDibs — which range from enameled silver jewelry, to silver flower vase baskets and other decorative objects, to sofas, lighting pendants and sconces — testify to the astonishing breadth of Hoffman’s creative pursuits. He was truly a giant of design.

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Creator: Josef Hoffmann
Black Art Nouveau Display Cabinet by Josef Hoffmann for Thonet, AT ca. 1905
By Thonet, Josef Hoffmann
Located in Lichtenberg, AT
Another rarity in our highly demanded Art Nouveau furniture collection: an absolute fantastic, unusual black display cabinet from the early perio...
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Early 20th Century Austrian Josef Hoffmann Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Materials

Brass

Original Josef Hoffmann & Wiener Werkstätte Cabinet for Mimi Marlow 20th Century
By Wiener Werkstätte, Josef Hoffmann
Located in Vienna, AT
For the private saloon of the then famous soubrette Mimi Marlow, who was also performing in the legendary "Fledermaus Cabaret," which was designed by Josef Hoffmann and executed by t...
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1910s Austrian Jugendstil Vintage Josef Hoffmann Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Materials

Oak

Josef Hoffmann Jugendstil Wiener Werkstaette Art Nouveau Coat Hook, Re-Edition
By Wiener Werkstätte, Woka Lamps, Josef Hoffmann
Located in Vienna, AT
Very elegant handmade coat-hook. Literature: Waltraud Neuwirth, Wiener Werkstaette – Avant Garde Art Deco, Industrial Design, 1985 Vienna p. 49. Different hooks are available see pi...
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2010s Austrian Jugendstil Josef Hoffmann Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Materials

Brass

Josef Hoffmann Coat Hook for the Wiener Werkstaette, Re-Edition
By Wiener Werkstätte, Woka Lamps, Josef Hoffmann
Located in Vienna, AT
Sensational design from the very puristic period of Josef Hoffmann and the Wiener Werkstaette. Literature: Waltraud Neuwirth, Wiener Werkstaette - Avantgarde Art Deco, Industrial Des...
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2010s Austrian Jugendstil Josef Hoffmann Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Materials

Brass

Original Jugendstil Salonschrank / Josef Hoffmann für J. & J. Kohn (Wien, 1900)
By Jacob & Josef Kohn, Josef Hoffmann
Located in Wien, AT
Objekt: Salonschrank Entwurf: Josef Hoffmann zugeschrieben (Wien, um 1900) Modell-Nummer: 600/10 Ausführung: Jacob & Josef Kohn (Wien, um 1905 - keine Papiermarke vorhanden) Maße in ...
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Early 1900s Austrian Vienna Secession Antique Josef Hoffmann Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Materials

Brass

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Rafftesaeth Jr., Dallas, Texas Acquired from highly reputable auction house, Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas. 2022 Design Signature Auction catalog #8091 History: Wolfgang Hoffmann was born in Vienna, Austria in 1900. He is the son of famous architect, pedagogue and Wiener Werkstatte cofounder, Joseph Hoffmann (1870-1956). Early on, following his father’s s interests, he was trained in the decorative arts and design. Wolfgang Hoffmann once reminisced, “I spent eight years at the Realschule, then three years went to a special architectural school, where I perfected my technical knowledge of architecture and general construction. From this school, I was graduated to the Kunstgewerbeschule [Studying under Oskar Strnad and Josef Frank in Vienna]. After finishing this school, I had one and a half years of practical in a well known architect’s office. Thereafter I worked in my Father’s office for two years”. Hoffmann met his future wife, Polish immigrant Pola (1902-1984) when they were both studying at the Kunstgewerbeschule. Joseph Urban (1872-1933) was needing an assistant for his architectural business in New York and contacted his friend and colleague, Joseph Hoffmann in Vienna. Hoffmann recommended his son Wolfgang. Urban hired him and sent a first class passage ticket to Vienna for Wolfgang to travel to New York. Wolfgang married Pola and traded his ticket for two tickets to America in steerage, arriving in New York City in December of 1925. Leaving the Urban office after nine months, Wolfgang and Pola formed an independent design practice with offices on Madison Avenue in Manhattan with the purpose of creating contemporary interiors and industrial designs. Early work included theaters, stores, and apartments mostly in New York City. During the late 1920’s and early 1930’s the Hoffmanns designed custom furniture for private clients. Some of these examples were shown in the February 1929 issue of House and Garden. Curiously, the examples’ design was attributed to Urban and the production to Pola Hoffmann, Inc. Established in the fall of 1928, the American Designers’ Gallery was “devoted exclusively to showing objects and interiors for practical use… by fourteen American architects and designers”. Its members included the Hoffmans and Urban as well as ceramist Henry Varnum Poor (1888-1971), architect Raymond Hood (1881-1934), artist designer Winold Reiss (1886-1953), graphic designer Lucien Bernhard (1896-1981), decorator Donald Deskey (1894-1989), and architect Ely Jacques Kahn (1884-1972). The Hoffmanns’ work was included in the American Designers’ Gallery’s two showcase events, its 1928 and 1929 exhibitions. Their dining alcove at the 1929 event featured a bench with a dinette table and two chairs in American walnut designed by Wolfgang and a rug by Pola. Lucien Bernhard, fellow Austrian immigrant who settled in New York a year before the Hoffmanns, operated the gallery and decorating service Contempora with Munich resident Bruno Paul (1874-1968). The Hoffmanns, occasionally participating with Contempora, designed a number of outstanding interiors, including the constructivist living room of 1930 for Mrs. O.R. Sommerich at 40 East 66th street. In 1934, Donald Deskey commissioned Wolfgang to design birchwood furnishings for the eclectic apartment at 625 Park Avenue belonging to Helena Rubinstein. In 1931, Wolfgang exhibited his work at the Pennsylvania Art Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The same year, with Kem Weber (1889-1963) he organized the second and final exhibition of AUDAC- “Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts”- at the Brooklyn Museum. At this event, the Hoffmanns showed the dining room previously included in the American Designer’s Gallery’s 1929 exhibition in the Chase Bank Building lobby at 145 West 57th Street in Manhattan. In 1932 Wolfgang was asked to assist Urban in developing the color scheme for the 1933-34 Chicago World’s Fair “A Century of Progress”. He was also commissioned to design the interior and furniture for the fair’s lumber industries house. There he executed its living and dining rooms furnished by Kroehler Manufacturing Company of Chicago; the boys’ room by Shower Brothers...
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Previously Available Items
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Josef Hoffmann Marble Top Dresser for J & J Kohn, 1905
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An elegant marble top bentwood dresser designed by Austrian-Moravian architect and designer Josef Hoffmann for the Fledermaus range produced by J & J Kohn circa 1905. Very much o...
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Original, Unique Josef Hoffmann Wiener Werkstätte Oak-Maple Chest from 1901
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Two Golden Wall Coat Hooks by Josef Hoffmann and Oswald Haerdtl, Austria, 1930s
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Located in Vienna, AT
Two beautiful coat wall hooks from the 1930s, designed by Josef Hoffmann and Oswald Haerdtl for the Austrian Federal Railways. Made of golden anodized aluminum, in very good original...
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Cabinet / Showcase Josef Hoffmann Attributed J.&J. Kohn (Vienna), Circa 1905-10
By Josef Hoffmann
Located in Vienna, AT
Josef Hoffmann (attributed)/Cabinet/Showcase. Vienna, designed circa 1900 made by Viennese firm Jacob & Josef Kohn, circa 1905-1910. height: 71.6 inches Beechwood, stained to m...
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Beech

Josef Hoffmann case pieces and storage cabinets for sale on 1stDibs.

Josef Hoffmann case pieces and storage cabinets are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of metal and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Josef Hoffmann case pieces and storage cabinets, although gray editions of this piece are particularly popular. We have 1 vintage editions of these items in-stock, while there is 2 modern edition to choose from as well. Many of the original case pieces and storage cabinets by Josef Hoffmann were created in the Art Nouveau style in europe during the 21st century and contemporary. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider case pieces and storage cabinets by Adolf Loos, Wiener Werkstätte, and Woka Lamps. Prices for Josef Hoffmann case pieces and storage cabinets can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $612 and can go as high as $32,253, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $612.
Questions About Josef Hoffmann Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets
  • 1stDibs ExpertFebruary 7, 2024
    Josef Hoffmann invented the Sitzmaschine, an adjustable lounge chair that the Austrian designer unveiled in 1905. Literally called a “machine for sitting,” it was originally created for a sanatorium in Purkersdorf, near Vienna. It has a curving frame with square and rectangular back and side rests. Like so many other designs by Hoffmann, this piece reflects a forward-thinking appreciation for the union of different sources, here the Arts and Crafts movement and modern design. Find a collection of Josef Hoffmann furniture and decorative objects on 1stDibs.

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