Not currently on display at the V&A

Armchair

ca. 1898-1899 (designed)
Artist/Maker
Wagner, Otto Colomann (designer)
Place of origin
Vienna (city) (designed)

This armchair, designed by Otto Wagner sometime in 1898 or 1899, stood in the dining room of his small apartment in Vienna. A very similar design was illustrated by Wagner in the publication Ver Sacrum to introduce an article on applied art, in which he hailed the emergence of art which mirrored its own time, rather than reproducing historic styles.

The armchair formed part of a set of chairs which were designed en suite with a sideboard, a vitrine and a cabinet which is also in the V&A's collection (W.14-1982)


Object details

Categories
Access_to_Images 2003
SCRAN
Furniture
Leather
Object type
Armchair
Materials and techniques
Walnut with mother-of-pearl inlay, leather seat (replaced), brass feet
Walnut
Leather
Mother of Pearl
Brass (Alloy)
Upholstering
Inlay (Process)
Brief description
Austrian (Vienna), 1898-9, d. Otto Wagner
Physical description
Walnut armchair with mother of pearl inlay and brass feet. The leather upholstery is a copy of the original.
Dimensions
  • Height: 199cm
  • Width: 99cm
  • Depth: 62.5cm
Dimensions taken from departmental catalogue. Not checked on object. Suspect it may be 200 cm high and 100 cm wide
Marks and inscriptions
'iv' (inside the front seat rail; carving)
Gallery label
  • ARMCHAIR W.13-1982 'American and European Art and Design 1800-1900' This armchair was designed for Wagner's own dining room at 3 Köstlergasse; it was shown at the Vienna 1900 Secession exhibition. In this year Wagner wrote an article on applied art in the avant-garde magazine of the Secession, Ver Sacrum, which used a similar chair as an initial letter.(1987-2006)
  • International Arts & Crafts The architect Otto Wagner designed a small apartment for himself in Vienna, to use as a pied-a-terre in the city. For it he created the first 'modern' Viennese furniture, including this cabinet & chair for the dining room. The room itself had yellow silk walls with brown velvet appliqué and a silver-coloured plaster ceiling.(17/03/2005)
Object history
This armchair, en suite with the cabinet W.14-1982, also stood in the dining room in Wagner's small apartment at 3 Köstlergasse, Vienna. The very similar design by Wagner illustrated in Ver Sacrum (1900) introduced an article on applied art in which he hailed emergence in the preceding year of an art which mirrored its own time.

Purchased in 1981 from Fischer Fine Art Ltd. [81/2350].
Summary
This armchair, designed by Otto Wagner sometime in 1898 or 1899, stood in the dining room of his small apartment in Vienna. A very similar design was illustrated by Wagner in the publication Ver Sacrum to introduce an article on applied art, in which he hailed the emergence of art which mirrored its own time, rather than reproducing historic styles.

The armchair formed part of a set of chairs which were designed en suite with a sideboard, a vitrine and a cabinet which is also in the V&A's collection (W.14-1982)
Bibliographic references
  • Wagner, Otto. Die Kunst im Gewerbe. Ver Sacrum. 1900, vol. III. pp.295-296.
  • Abels, Ludwig. Der Kunstgewerbe-Ausstellung der Seccession. Das Interieur. 1901, vol. II. p.20
  • Wagner, Otto. Die Baukunst unserer Zeit. Vienna: 1914 (reprinted Vienna, 1979). pp.18, 60
  • Die Kunst. 1901. vol. IV. p.95
  • Witt-Dörring, Christian (catalogue entry). In: Moderne Vergangenheit, Wien 1800-1900. Vienna: Kunstlerhaus, 1981. pp.234-238
  • Livingstone, Karen & Parry, Linda (eds.), International Arts and Crafts, London : V&A Publications, 2005 p.253
  • Art & Design in Europe and America 1800-1900. Introduction by Simon Jervis (London: The Herbert Press, 1987), pp. 184-5
Collection
Furniture and Woodwork Collection
Accession number
W.13-1982

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Record createdMay 29, 2001
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O59231/armchair-wagner-otto-colomann/
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