Josef HOFFMANN (1870-1956)
Manufactured by Jakob SOULEK
Vienna 1911

Low sideboard in ebonized and polished pearwood, with two doors sculpted with a gouge in very low relief, featuring festooned drapery with a lush decoration of black mulberry fruits and foliage, also repeated on the four legs. The tabletop perimeter is adorned on three sides with a mother-of-pearl marquetry frieze featuring a stylized floral motif, alternating with touches of varied shades.

This remarkable piece was created the year of the completion of the Stoclet Palace (1905-1911), a manifesto of total art, mobilizing all members of the Wiener Werkstätte under the direction of Josef Hoffmann, including Gustav Klimt, who created the dining room friezes.
It adopts its architectural and decorative codes, contrasting cubic volumes and clean surfaces with extremely refined decorations, anticipating the Art Deco movement.

Originally featuring six doors and four uprights supporting a curtain by Wilhelm Jonash with a stylized floral motif, this sideboard was subsequently modified at an unknown date, becoming a two-door sideboard and stripped of its curtain.

Height 92 cm, width 116 cm, depth 65.5 cm