Smoking Table thumbnail 1
Smoking Table thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Design 1900 to Now, Room 74

Smoking Table

1910 (made)
Artist/Maker
Wiener Werkstätte (manufacturer)
Hoffmann, Josef (designer)
Place of origin
Vienna (city) (made)

Metal furniture has been made since antiquity. However, the simple rectiliniarity and geometric purity of this table were strikingly novel when it was designed and produced by the Wiener Werkstätte in the early 1900s. Punched sheet metal, as used here, could by then be mass-produced on an industrial scale for use in small-scale furniture. The austerity of the material served to emphasise the form and function of the furniture into which it was made. The Wiener Werkstätte produced various types of tables and jardinères, but more elaborate pieces were ocasionally made, too.


Object details

Object type
Smoking table
Materials and techniques
White enamelled zinc (re-finished), with a light grey-blue top
Zinc
Enamel Paint
Soldering
Enamelling (Painting)
Brief description
Smoking table, designed by Josef Hoffmann, made by Wiener Werkstätte, Vienna, 1910
Physical description
Smoking table of enamelled zinc, with an all-over pattern of small square holes, the four semi-circular pillar supports joined by a cross stretcher at floor level and supporting a circular top with a pierced gallery. Enamelled white (re-finished).
Dimensions
  • Height: 68cm
  • Diameter: 41cm
Style
Secession Movement
Marks and inscriptions
'WIENER/WERK/STÄTTE' (1) Makers's mark; under the top; stencilling)
Gallery label
A co-operative for art and industry Founded in Vienna in 1903, the Wiener Werkstätte was a co-operative of artists and craftspeople who created experimental designs, usually by hand, using new technical innovations and industrial materials. The geometric-patterned plant pot and table and the plain cutlery are characteristic of their work. Architect and designer Josef Hoffman co-founded the Werkstätte with artist Koloman Moser and with the support of industrialist Fritz Wärndorfer. The light and airy workshops provided good working conditions and the company pioneered paid holidays. Punched metal plant pot 1905–10 Designed by Koloman Moser Made by the Wiener Werkstätte, Austria-Hungary (now Austria) Pierced and folded iron Museum no. M.18-1982 Punched metal table 1910 Designed by Josef Hoffmann Made by the Wiener Werkstätte, Austria-Hungary (now Austria) Enameled and folded zinc Museum no. M.8-1982 Cutlery set 1907 Designed by Josef Hoffmann for the Cabaret Fledermaus Made by the Wiener Werkstätte, Austria-Hungary (now Austria) Electroplated nickel silver Museum no. M.10 to F-1982 The object sits in the 'Automation and Labour' section of the Design 1900-Now gallery opened in June 2021.(2021)
Object history
The table base repeats the basic form of a jardinière visible in a 1904 photograph of the Wiener Werkstätte saleroom.
Historical context
Small wares of white enamelled metal pierced with a repetitive pattern of small square holes were among the most characteristic products of the Wiener Werkstätte. They were used to illustrate articles by Jaumann (1905) and Lux (1908) in which the concept of a machine aesthetic was discussed. These tables were popular enough to be imitated by Beiszbarth & Hoffmann of Mannheim-Rheinau, who even employed Hoffmann's pupil, Otto Prutscher (1873 - 1959) as a designer.
Many of the Wiener Werkstätte products were small and simple, exhibiting geometric purity and strong rectilinarity. However, more ambitious objects were attempted, for instance a table by Hoffmann incorporating a jardinière and supporting a bird cage which was illustrated in about 1909.

A photograph in the Wiener Werkstätte records in the Österreichisches Museum für Angewandte Kunst (IX p.49, M 1408) shows this table model supporting small containers for cigars and cigarettes; according to the order book one unfinished table was made as a model for Clöter on February 2nd 1910, who supplied ten such tables, with glass tops, on October 12th 1910.
Summary
Metal furniture has been made since antiquity. However, the simple rectiliniarity and geometric purity of this table were strikingly novel when it was designed and produced by the Wiener Werkstätte in the early 1900s. Punched sheet metal, as used here, could by then be mass-produced on an industrial scale for use in small-scale furniture. The austerity of the material served to emphasise the form and function of the furniture into which it was made. The Wiener Werkstätte produced various types of tables and jardinères, but more elaborate pieces were ocasionally made, too.
Bibliographic references
  • Jervis, Simon: Furniture Of About 1900 From Austria & Hungary In The Victoria & Albert Museum, London: Victoria & Albert Museum, 1986, no.13, p. 38, 39
  • Lux, Josef August: Über Ingenieur-Ästhetik, Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, XXIII, 1908-1909, pp. 175-187, illus. similar wares.
  • Deutsche Kunnst und Decoartion, XXV, 1909-1910, p. 408, illus.
  • Schweiger, Werner J., Wiener Werkstätte, Vienna, 1982, p.28, illus.
  • Moderne Vergangenheit, Wien 1800-1900,, Künstlerhaus, Viennak, 1981, p. 319, illus. (also on front cover).
Collection
Metalwork Collection
Accession number
M.8-1982

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Record createdSeptember 30, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O84542/smoking-table-hoffmann-josef/
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