Josef Hoffman - Trunk: the fauna of the earth

Date	1910
Period	Early 20th century
Dimensions	79 x 60 x 41 cm (31¹/₈ x 23⁵/₈ x 16¹/₈ inches)
Gallery	Bel Etage, Wolfgang Bauer, Vienna

Description
Technical

Design of the chest: Josef Hoffmann

Painted by: Franz von Zülow, 1945

Signed in front lower right: Franz von Zülow 45

Pine, primed, colourful painted interior; painting: "Kleisterarbeit", (using paint
mixed with glue), cleaned, some parts that were missing due to ageing and
cracks in the wood, repaired, retouches, very nice condition.

As early as the 1910s, Josef Hoffmann designed a small chest of this kind, which was later fitted with four small legs. In total, three such chests are known today: One was painted by Gertrude Balabene, another by Renate Tschurtschentaler. However, this piece is probably the most important of its kind, as it was painted by Franz von Zülow – a master painter decorated his first furniture for the Wiener Werkstätte as early as 1908.

Date: 1910
Period: Early 20th century
Dimensions: 79 x 60 x 41 cm (31¹/₈ x 23⁵/₈ x 16¹/₈ inches)
Provenance:

private property, Austria

Literature:

Die schönen Künste, 1947, II, p. 118

Exhibitions:

Musée des Beaux Arts, Brussels, 1989; L'art deco en Europe, illus. cat. no. A 12,
p. 37; MAK Vienna, Josef Hoffmann 1870-1956. Progress Through Beauty, December 2021 until June 2022