Armchair in Alpaca Herringbone

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 turn-of-the-century Weiner Werkstatte (in English: the Viennese Workshops), a design co-op 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.

This beautiful chair, designed circa 1905 in Austria by Jacob & Josef Kohn, is made of steam-bent beech wood.  We reupholstered in a beautiful herringbone alpaca wrap from Attersee. There is a branded manufacturer's mark to underside ‘J & J Kohn Austria’.