A SET OF TWELVE SIDE CHAIRS DESIGNED BY JOSEF URBAN, PRODUCED BY THONET, CIRCA 1906 The continuous leather seat and back, set with round brass nail heads, raised on square tapering legs in the back and cylindrical legs in the front, ending in polished brass sabots , conjoined by double stretchers-- 36in.(91.5cm.)high cf. Randolph Carter and Robert Cole Joseph Urban Architect, Theatre, Opera, Film. New York: Abbeville Press Inc.,1992, p.35; Derek E. Ostergard, Bent Wood and Metal Furniture: 1850-1946. New York: The American Federation of the Arts, 1987, p.118; Werner Schweiger, Wiener Werkstaette, Kunst und Handwerk, 1903-1932. Wien: Edition Christian Brandstaetter, 1982, p.114; Dorothee Muller: Klassiker des modernen Mobeldesign, Kysersche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1980, p.152,153 Joseph Urban Austrian architect, illustrator, interior and set-designer, was born in 1872. He was a pupil of Karl Hagenauer and was co-founder and president of the "Hagenbundes" , a rival artists union to the Viennese Secession group. Illustrated in the 1911 Thonet sales catalogue, this chair, model no. 405, was designed by Urban in 1906. As seen in a period photograph in the magazine "Das Interieur" (1906, p.21), the side chair was used in the interior of the Paul Hofer Restaurant in Vienna. Thonet's economically priced bent-wood furniture, like model no. 405, was first designed for commercial institutions and restaurants. The firm later expanded into the domestic market. After several architectural projects in Vienna, Urban moved to Boston in 1911 to be stage director of the Boston opera. In 1917 he became stage director at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City until his death in 1933. During his association with the Metropolitan Opera, he designed more than fifty productions, providing sets for distinguished artists such as Caruso, Chaliapin, Melchior, Gigli, Pinza. In addition to several Ziegfeld Broadway shows, including the original production of "Showboat", Urban staged several movies for the W.R. Hearst filmproduction company "Cosmopolitan". In the fall of 1922, Urban opened the showroom Wiener Werkstaette of America Inc., at 581 Fifth Avenue, a branch of the famous Viennese institution ,with the goal of bringing the designs of the Viennese modern movement to the United States. This model was exhibited in the exhibition "Vienna-New York, The Work of Josef Urban, 1872-1933" , at the Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York City, November 1987-March 1988. (12)
A SET OF TWELVE SIDE CHAIRS DESIGNED BY JOSEF URBAN, PRODUCED BY THONET, CIRCA 1906 The continuous leather seat and back, set with round brass nail heads, raised on square tapering legs in the back and cylindrical legs in the front, ending in polished brass sabots , conjoined by double stretchers-- 36in.(91.5cm.)high cf. Randolph Carter and Robert Cole Joseph Urban Architect, Theatre, Opera, Film. New York: Abbeville Press Inc.,1992, p.35; Derek E. Ostergard, Bent Wood and Metal Furniture: 1850-1946. New York: The American Federation of the Arts, 1987, p.118; Werner Schweiger, Wiener Werkstaette, Kunst und Handwerk, 1903-1932. Wien: Edition Christian Brandstaetter, 1982, p.114; Dorothee Muller: Klassiker des modernen Mobeldesign, Kysersche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1980, p.152,153 Joseph Urban Austrian architect, illustrator, interior and set-designer, was born in 1872. He was a pupil of Karl Hagenauer and was co-founder and president of the "Hagenbundes" , a rival artists union to the Viennese Secession group. Illustrated in the 1911 Thonet sales catalogue, this chair, model no. 405, was designed by Urban in 1906. As seen in a period photograph in the magazine "Das Interieur" (1906, p.21), the side chair was used in the interior of the Paul Hofer Restaurant in Vienna. Thonet's economically priced bent-wood furniture, like model no. 405, was first designed for commercial institutions and restaurants. The firm later expanded into the domestic market. After several architectural projects in Vienna, Urban moved to Boston in 1911 to be stage director of the Boston opera. In 1917 he became stage director at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City until his death in 1933. During his association with the Metropolitan Opera, he designed more than fifty productions, providing sets for distinguished artists such as Caruso, Chaliapin, Melchior, Gigli, Pinza. In addition to several Ziegfeld Broadway shows, including the original production of "Showboat", Urban staged several movies for the W.R. Hearst filmproduction company "Cosmopolitan". In the fall of 1922, Urban opened the showroom Wiener Werkstaette of America Inc., at 581 Fifth Avenue, a branch of the famous Viennese institution ,with the goal of bringing the designs of the Viennese modern movement to the United States. This model was exhibited in the exhibition "Vienna-New York, The Work of Josef Urban, 1872-1933" , at the Cooper Hewitt Museum, New York City, November 1987-March 1988. (12)
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
