Set of Eight Original Josef Frank Bentwood Chairs, Six Sides and Two Arms

View Similar Items

Set of Six Chairs Model 2025 Designed by Josef Frank for Svenskt Tenn

Set of Eight Dining Chairs Model 2027 Designed by Josef Frank for Svenskt Tenn

Set of Six Dining Chairs Model 2027 Designed by Josef Frank for Svenskt Tenn

Set of 5 Josef Frank Prague Chairs Made in Czechoslovakia, circa 1970s

Set of Four Dining Chairs Model 2027 Designed by Josef Frank for Svenskt Tenn

Prague Chairs by Josef Hoffmann & Frank in Bentwood and Cane, Set of Six, 1930s

Modernist Maple Josef Frank Fabric Eight Dining Chairs Karl Schwanzer, 1950s

Unique Set of 6 Mid-Century Bentwood Dining Chairs Thonet Josef Hoffmann

Set of Eight Louis XVI Side Chairs

English Set of Eight Elm Spindleback Chairs Early 19th C Two Arms and Six Sides

Bentwood Prague Model 811 Dining Chair by Josef Frank Josef Hoffmann for Stendig

Art-Deco Thonet Bentwood Leather Dining Chairs with Walnut Finish - Set of Six

Want more images or videos?

Request additional images or videos from the seller

1 of 17

Set of Eight Original Josef Frank Bentwood Chairs, Six Sides and Two Arms

About the Item

A set of original dining chairs comprising eight side chairs and two armchairs by Austrian born architect /designer Josef Frank. Frank in collaboration with his colleague Oskar Strnad was famous for creating the Vienna School of Architecture and its concept of Modern houses, housing and interiors. Later in his life, Frank became a Swedish citizen. Born : July 15, 1885, Baden bei Wien, Austria- January 8, 1967, Stockholm, Sweden Rare model No A 665 F for Thonet, 1935 These elegant Austrian school, Wiener Werkstatte bentwood chairs feature horizontal back slats and sinuous curved hand rests on the arm chairs, all finished with a medium toned warm walnut stain. The wood frames of the chairs are refinished and in very good condition. The seat cushions are original and need to be re-done. A few seats have green fabric, the others are green Naugahyde. They are attached with two screws and are easily removable for re -upholstery. The chairs are made by steaming pieces of beech wood in saturated steam so that the wood bends more easily. Aspects of both machine and hand work are used to achieve Thonet's unique process. The firm perfected these techniques and Industrial designs and thus became very popular throughout Europe. The museum of Applied Arts in Vienna owns a large collection of Thonet's production and hold exhibitions showcasing Thonet's historic objects and furniture. The arms measure 20 3/4" wide ( max including arms ) x 32 " height The sides measure 17" wide x 31 1/2 " height x 19 1/2 - 20 " deep maximum (including the frame ) These are ideal for a Modern / Contemporary home, a Brooklyn loft, an office space, hotel, lobby, even a traditional dining room. They bear Jindrich Halabala organic style arms, with Bauhaus, Vienna Secession ladder back details.

Creator:
Josef Frank (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 31.5 in (80.01 cm)Width: 17 in (43.18 cm)Depth: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)Seat Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 8
Style:
Jugendstil (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Bentwood
Place of Origin:
Austria
Period:
Early 20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
1935
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
New York City, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU901317353662

Shop All Josef Frank

Josef Frank

Austrian architect and furniture and fabric designer Josef Frank was a leading voice for a gentle, humane modernism. His advocacy of warm, comfortable, eclectically styled environments was highly influential in his adopted country of Sweden, and it’s now widely regarded as a harbinger of the backlash against doctrinaire modernism and the embrace of the homespun that occurred in the late 1960s.

The son of a successful Viennese textile manufacturer, Frank studied architecture at Vienna University of Technology, graduating in 1910. From the first years of his practice, he marched counter to the orderly, symmetrical architectural layouts and decors prescribed by contemporaries such as Adolf Loos.

Frank drafted rooms of varying shapes and called for flexible interior-design arrangements. His furniture pieces are light and easy to move — and his chairs are always made of wood, most often with lushly curved steam-bent arms and slatted backs. Frank openly loathed the tubular steel furnishings and “machine for living” aesthetic promoted by Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and other Bauhaus principals. “The home must not be a mere efficient machine,” Frank once said. “It must offer comfort, rest and coziness…. There are no puritan principles in good interior decoration.”

Frank — who was Jewish — sensed the dire implications of the rise of Nazism in Germany and Austria, and in 1933 he moved to Stockholm with his Swedish wife, Anna. He became the design chief for the furnishings maker Svenskt Tenn and found a perfect match culturally for his brand of simple, relaxed and bright creations. Like many modernists — notably Charles and Ray Eames and Alexander Girard — Frank had a deep love of folk art, which influenced his designs for a wide array of colorful, richly patterned upholstery fabrics, many based on the classic “Tree of Life” motif.

In all his designs, Frank took inspiration from a broad variety of sources. In his furniture, one can discern traces of Asian patterns, Rococo, Italian Renaissance, Scandinavian handicrafts and even Chippendale pieces. As such, the work of Frank — the friendly modernist — is at home in any type of décor.

Find vintage Josef Frank pillows, armchairs, floor lamps and other furniture on 1stDibs.