Original Art Nouveau Credenza by Josef Urban, Vienna, 1905

Object: Credenza
designed by Josef Urban (Vienna, around 1905)
Model number: -
Execution: Unknown cabinet maker (Vienna, around 1905)
Dimensions in cm (H x W x D): 225 x 96 x 59
Material: softwood body mahogany veneered, rosewood stained & shellac hand polished, floral & geometric brass applications, cut mirror, cut glass, marble, 3 keys (lock)
Condition: professionally restored
Provenance: Viennese private property
Literature: Das Interieur, 1902, vol. 3, pp. 29, 82, 114, 115 / Photograph, "Goldener Jüngling" by Victor Lurje in the salesroom of the Wiener Werkstätte of America, Fifth Avenue, New York, 1922, Anonymous, MAK Inv.nr. WWF 137-89-1 /

Additional information:
This Viennese essay credenza, made around 1905, is an outstanding example of the work of Josef Urban (1872-1933). Urban, who studied at the Academy of Fine Arts under Carl von Hasenauer, was one of the most influential designers of Viennese Modernism. As a founding member (alongside Hoffmann, Olbrich, Moser, Karpellus, Kainradl & Koch) of the Siebener-Club (around 1892) and the Hagenbund (1900), influential Viennese artists' groups, he combined artistic sophistication with functional elegance in his designs.

The credenza embodies Urban's characteristic design language and stylistic elements, creating a harmonious interplay of geometric clarity and organic movement. Particularly striking here is the circle with a curved line running through it, which can be found in 1902 on a bench in the “Deutsche Zeitung” in Vienna, the apartment of Dr. Wähner (door frame cladding and bench in the living room) as well as in 1922 on an armchair with side table in the salesroom of the Wiener Werkstätte of America (Fifth Avenue, New York). A further indication of Urban's design spirit is the almost above-average height of the brass sheet metal wraps on the legs and the unusual geometric and floral brass fittings, which were also used in a similar way in Dr. Wähner's apartment.

Josef Urban moved stylistically between Viennese Art Nouveau and the early Wiener Werkstätte aesthetic before emigrating to the USA in 1911, where he made a career as an architect and stage designer. His furniture designs show a clear departure from opulent historicism in favor of a modern, structured formal language that combines both the rigor of geometry and the elegance of ornamentation.