Armchair, French, 1899-1900, designed by Otto Eckmann, made by Siegfried Bing

Armchair of carved beech, stained red; the seat, back and portion of the arms are covered with cut and stained leather. The solid leather back is decorated with a conventional owl above with spread wings, and with tulips below bound together by ribbons; at the top of either side of the back is a projecting leather cushion, each decorated with an owl. The remaining leather work is ornamented with borders of long wavy leaf-like forms with leaves at the angles. The flat arms rest on prolongations of the front legs. The upper part of the arm-rests and the front rail of the seat are carved with flowering stems. The back and front legs are joined by two rails which in turn are connected by another rail.

Given by Sir George Donaldson

Otto Eckmann originally trained as an artist and began designing furniture, lighting, ceramics and textiles in 1894. He was one of a group of German designers commissioned by the French entrepreneur Siegfried Bing to design furniture, including this armchair, for the ‘Art Nouveau Bing’ pavilion at the Paris International Exhibition of 1900. The combination of naturalistic carved panels and geometric details on the arms is typical of Art Nouveau’s German equivalent, Jugendstil.

2009:1 to 4-1900