Desk Designed by Josef Frank for Haus Und Garten, Austria, 1932

Floor lamp model 1842 designed by Josef Frank for Svenskt Tenn, Sweden, 1932. Brass. Measures: H: 102.5 cm W: 36 cm Shade diameter: 24 cm Base diamete...

Occasional table designed by Josef Frank for Svenskt Tenn, Sweden, 1950s. Mahogany. Measurements: H: 60 cm/ 23 1/2'' Length when extened: 104 cm/ 3' 5'' D: 54 cm/ 21 1/2''   Jose...

Occasional table designed by Josef Frank for Svenskt Tenn, Sweden. 1950s. Mahogany. H: 45 cm L: 80 cm D: 40 cm Josef Frank was a true European, he was also a pioneer of what would become classic 20th century Swedish design and the “Scandinavian Design Style”. Austrian- born Frank started his design career as an architect after having trained at the Technische Hochschule in Vienna between 1903 and 1910. After his training he went on to teach at Kunstgewerbeschule (The Viennese School of Arts and crafts) where he developed and espoused the new school of modernist thinking towards Architecture and Design that was coming to fruition in Vienna at the time. He also went on to lead the Vienna Werkbund throughout the 1920s. This was a truly progressive group of Architects and Designers who set about improving the daily lives of Austrian people through modernist design and architecture in partnership with Arts and Crafts ideals and construction. Frank’s leadership of the Werkbund had already cemented his place at the forefront of European design. Frank’s time in Vienna was typified by his design for the “Die Wohnung” exhibition of the Deutscher Werkbund in Stuttgart, 1927 where he exhibited along side his contemporaries at the forefront of design, such as the likes of Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius. Here he showed a specially designed pair of flat-roofed reinforced concrete houses in what is now seen as a typical modernist style. What separated Frank’s house from the other 32 houses of the exhibition was the interior and furniture inside the building. It was described as “Neo-Classical” and filled with an eclectic mix of period pieces, modern design and pieces designed by Frank himself that seemed to cross the two worlds. This was a complete opposite direction to that which his fellow Architects were travelling in with their pared back and angular aesthetics. Frank said of his own work: “The house is not a work of art, simply a place where one lives,” and by this reasoning Frank rejected the regimental mechanisation of the living space that his contemporaries believed in, instead he set about creating congenial and spontaneous interiors. Frank’s practice saw him placing the bright colours and the soft forms of nature back into the furnishings and interiors that he thought modernism sorely mist. Frank, along with Oskar Walch set up Haus und Garten in Vienna in 1925. This was Frank’s first commercial foray into furniture and home furnishings and the company went on to become the most influential furnishing house in Vienna with a riotous depth of colour and interesting shapes becoming the trademark of their design. However this success was to come to an end with rise of Nazism in Vienna in the early 1930’s. Frank was Jewish, and he and his wife Anna decided they would leave Vienna for her motherland: Sweden, in 1933. Frank continued to design for Haus and Garten, visiting Vienna occasionally and designing the pieces that would continue to be the company’s best...

Desk designed by Alvar Andersson for Hyresgästföreningen, retailed by G.A. Berg Sweden. 1930s. Black lacquered birch, elm and pewter inlay. Dimensions: H: 75 cm/ 29 1/2'' L: 150 cm...

Occasional table model 2168 designed by Josef Frank for Svenskt Tenn, Sweden. 1950s. Walnut and marble. Josef Frank’s occasional table “model 2168” is one of his rarer models. Its beautifully carved, turned legs...

Brass. Table Lamp Model 2552 Designed by Josef Frank for Svenskt Tenn, Sweden, 1950s Measures: H 49.5 cm Josef Frank was a true European, he was also a pioneer of what would become classic 20th century Swedish design and the “Scandinavian Design Style”. Austrian- born Frank started his design career as an architect after having trained at the Technische Hochschule in Vienna between 1903 and 1910. After his training he went on to teach at Kunstgewerbeschule (The Viennese School of Arts and crafts) where he developed and espoused the new school of modernist thinking towards Architecture and Design that was coming to fruition in Vienna at the time. He also went on to lead the Vienna Werkbund throughout the 1920s. This was a truly progressive group of Architects and Designers who set about improving the daily lives of Austrian people through modernist design and architecture in partnership with Arts and Crafts ideals and construction. Frank’s leadership of the Werkbund had already cemented his place at the forefront of European design. Frank’s time in Vienna was typified by his design for the “Die Wohnung” exhibition of the Deutscher Werkbund in Stuttgart, 1927 where he exhibited along side his contemporaries at the forefront of design, such as the likes of Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius. Here he showed a specially designed pair of flat-roofed reinforced concrete houses in what is now seen as a typical modernist style. What separated Frank’s house from the other 32 houses of the exhibition was the interior and furniture inside the building. It was described as “Neo-Classical” and filled with an eclectic mix of period pieces, modern design and pieces designed by Frank himself that seemed to cross the two worlds. This was a complete opposite direction to that which his fellow Architects were travelling in with their pared back and angular aesthetics. Frank said of his own work: “The house is not a work of art, simply a place where one lives,” and by this reasoning Frank rejected the regimental mechanisation of the living space that his contemporaries believed in, instead he set about creating congenial and spontaneous interiors. Frank’s practice saw him placing the bright colours and the soft forms of nature back into the furnishings and interiors that he thought modernism sorely mist. Frank, along with Oskar Walch set up Haus und Garten in Vienna in 1925. This was Frank’s first commercial foray into furniture and home furnishings and the company went on to become the most influential furnishing house in Vienna with a riotous depth of colour and interesting shapes becoming the trademark of their design. However this success was to come to an end with rise of Nazism in Vienna in the early 1930’s. Frank was Jewish, and he and his wife Anna decided they would leave Vienna for her motherland: Sweden, in 1933. Frank continued to design for Haus and Garten, visiting Vienna occasionally and designing the pieces that would continue to be the company’s best...

Art Deco vintage coffee table or side table by Josef Frank for Haus & Garten circa 1928 Austria. A stunning and sleek Josef Frank coffee table from the Viennese Art Deco period circa...

Beautiful desk by Josef Frank, made from elm with striking woodgrain. Clean lines and subtly rounded forms, a timeless piece.

Art Deco circular charming three-legged side table from walnut by Josef Frank for Haus & Garten, Vienna, circa 1926. The side table was made of solid walnut feet and walnut veneer. T...

Art Deco vintage walnut side table / coffee table by Josef Frank for Haus & Garten, circa 1925 Vienna, shows a top with beautiful walnut burl...

Art Deco vintage circular coffee table or side table with an ornament top by Josef Frank for Haus & Garten circa 1925 Vienna. An amazing...

A beautiful and extremely rare desk made by the high end manufacturers Jacob and Josef Kohn. This was most likely designed by Josef Frank, it was made in Austria and dates from around 1900-1910 period. The original Jacob and Josef Kohn label is seen below the top, and this has all the hallmarks of their quality pieces. It is beautifully made with a bentwood frame, solid beach desk...