Buffet Walnut London 1890s

While the first name that comes to mind when thinking of bentwood furniture might be Thonet (maker of the iconic Thonet No. 14 chair or “bistro chair”), Michael Thonet and his subsequent studio, the Gebrüder Thonet (Thonet Brothers), had a strong competitor in 19th-century Vienna: Jacob & Josef Kohn (also referred to as J. & J. Kohn).

Founded in 1849 by a father and son with the motto “Be one step ahead,” Jacob & Josef Kohn created modern furniture for indoors and out from Austrian beech. At the turn of the 20th century, after establishing itself with mastery of everything from chairs to coatracks and even doll furniture, J. & J. Kohn began working closely with the Wiener Werkstätte, the artisan cooperative cofounded by Austrian architect and designer Josef Hoffmann (Gustav Klimt and Koloman Moser were also members). Through this partnership, J. & J. Kohn produced an array of furniture in bentwood, cane and upholstery, which it sold through showrooms across Europe and North America. Its designs throughout the first decade of the 20th century reflect the Art Nouveau movement that was quickly gaining traction across Europe.

Price wars and mergers ensued during the First World War. Changes in the organizational structure of Thonet included a merger with Viennese company Mundus in the early 20th century, which followed Mundus’s becoming a majority stakeholder in J. & J. Kohn — these mergers yielded the formation of Mundus-Kohn and later, in 1922–23, Thonet-Mundus. The new conglomerate went on to produce examples of its bentwood furniture in keeping with the modern style of the Vienna Secession. While Thonet rebuilt, rebranded and expanded in the United States and elsewhere after World War II, J. & J. Kohn never produced furniture under that name again.

On 1stDibs, find a variety of antique J. & J. Kohn furniture including bentwood wingback chairs designed by Josef Hoffmann and other seating, side tables, beech nesting tables and more.

If you’ve been searching for a unique solution for storage or displaying your serveware or decorative objects, might we prescribe an antique or vintage apothecary cabinet?

With the advent of the modern-day pharmacy, you can often go a long time without running into an apothecary . . . or even seeing the word. Popular in the 15th and 16th centuries, apothecary shops are the predecessors of today’s typical drug stores. An apothecary, in the person sense, was a medical professional, dispensing medicines and remedies for common ailments, but also preparing and mixing said medicines in-house. Too often these shops were quite small and, like most of us constantly seeking savvy storage solutions, apothecaries needed a cabinet to store supplies and medicinal ingredients.

Apothecary cabinets are case pieces similar in size to early dressers or commodes but with uniquely sized shelving and (often numerous) drawers. Indeed, these old-world furnishings — whether it's a small apothecary cabinet or a large version — offer seemingly endless ways to sort and display or just help tidy up a room while maintaining its charm.

Decorating with a vintage metal apothecary cabinet, or one made of solid wood, is a snap.

Pay tribute to the piece’s original purpose by displaying your very own collection of apothecary jars and bottles or decorative art glass. Elsewhere, introduce the cabinet to high-traffic areas such as your living room — two smaller Victorian-era apothecary cabinets could work as side tables — or your entryway much in the way you would a console table. These functional furnishings can work as storage in your home office or as nightstands in the bedroom, and in any interior an apothecary wall cabinet can keep your space orderly and clutter-free.

Browse a collection of antique and vintage apothecary cabinets and chests on 1stDibs today.