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ONLINECOLLECTION

Bentwood Armchair for the Postal Savings Bank in Vienna, Model No. 6516, 1906

Leopold Museum,
Vienna
Bentwood, dark stained beech, perforated plywood seat, aluminum
78×56.5×49 cm

Artists

  • Otto Wagner

    (Vienna 1841–1918 Vienna)

  • Gebrüder Thonet

    (founded in 1849)

Currently on display at OG3
This armchair with the model number 6516 was designed by the architect, town planner and designer Otto Wagner (1841–1918) in 1906 for the Vienna Postal Savings Bank – a building that represents one of his chief architectural works. In keeping with Jugendstil, Wagner created a functional and esthetic Gesamtkunstwerk, or universal work of art, designing not only the building but also its entire interior decoration. With this chair, he focused on stability, an execution using the bentwood technique that shows respect for the material and on preventing wear and tear: The armrests and the four feet – the areas exposed to the most wear – were reinforced with aluminum. The idea behind this was that the product should last as long as possible in a counter proposal to the concept of planned obsolescence. In this respect, the piece meets our modern standards of sustainability. The armchair was produced in various versions that corresponded to the hierarchy within the banking establishment and differed primarily in the materials used. The designs were executed by the company Gebrüder Thonet.

Audio

Audio for adults

Object data

Artist/author
  • Design: Otto Wagner
  • Execution: Gebrüder Thonet
Title
Bentwood Armchair for the Postal Savings Bank in Vienna, Model No. 6516
Date
1906
Art movement
Art Nouveau
Category
Furniture
Material​/technique
Bentwood, dark stained beech, perforated plywood seat, aluminum
Dimensions
78×56.5×49 cm
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 4157
Inventory access
Contributed to the Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung in 1994
Selection of Reference works
  • Wien 1900. Aufbruch in die Moderne, hrsg. von Hans-Peter Wipplinger, Wien 2019 (Ausst.-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, ab 15.03.2019).
Keywords

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Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i
Dr. Rudolf Leopold, Wien (o.D.);
Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung, Wien (seit 1994).

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