Antique bentwood armchair

A hand caned antique bentwood armchair in excellent condition. Made ~135 years ago by Jacob & Josef Kohn in Austria. It is lightweight, sturdy, with sweeping arms and a broad seat. Suitable for sunrooms, quiet corners, listening rooms or as an occasional chair in the corner of your bedroom.

There are three identifying marks on the underside of the chair. i) Kohn branded in the timber. ii) a faint paper label that identifies Kohn either as an an official furniture purveyor for the Spanish Royal house (Proveedor de la Real Casa) or badges of awards the company has won. It was very fashionable at the time to display awards during the age of grand international exhibitions. Our very own UNESCO world heritage site the Royal Exhibition Buildings were built for this purpose, with the first exhibition held in 1880/81. Kohn won a first place at the Melbourne exhibition, which they proudly displayed front and center on their circa 1881 catalogue. iii) A badge has been placed over the label that reads Cullis and Co. A Melbourne based furniture maker and importer, who were based at 106 Elizabeth St in the City. Tying all this together, The Spanish warrant was given in 1872, the exhibition was 80/81 and Cullis and Co became insolvent in 1892. Hence, this chair was built and came to Australia at the peak of Marvelous Melbourne during the 1880s.

Excellent condition for its age. The cane is fully intact and taunt. The wood has been cleaned, oiled, shellacked and waxed at Fnestra. Its ready for another 100 years.