Cover of the Catalog of the Furniture Company Jacob & Josef Kohn, c. 1908

Koloman Moser (1868–1918) created not only furniture designs for the bentwood furniture company Jacob & Josef Kohn, but also graphic designs, such as this advertisement. The text is set in a horizontal rectangle, which is framed by a monogram of Jacob & Josef Kohn on the one side and a coat of arms of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy on the other side. Above it looms an Egyptianized female figure. In her raised right hand, she is holding a decorated mirror that also shows the monogram. The figure is framed on either side by marginal decorations with geometric patterns. The vertical lines and rectangles of the marginal decorations also appear on her planar clothing, but here they are complemented by curved lines, spirals and vegetable ornaments. Moser’s design was not only used for Italian-speaking areas, like the present example, but was also integrated in posters and leaflets for the branches of Jacob & Josef Kohn in Russia and Berlin.

LVD, 2024