Armchair in Walnut and Rope, Austria, circa 1925

Very rare, probably unique high-back ladderchair with hand-carved heart-shaped details at the back-rests and arm-rests by Hugo Gorge in great condition Windsor type armchair handmade in Arts & Craft tradition from walnut and rope in very good and stable original condition with beautiful hand-carved heart-shaped details at the back-rests and arm-rests. The rope is also intact and shows no damages. Hugo Gorge belonged to a small group of architects and designers led by Oskar Strnad and Josef Frank who advocated for warm, comfortable homes as a reaction against the rigidly unified interiors of the Wiener Werkstätte. Wiener Wohnkultur (Viennese living or dwelling culture) as the movement came to be known, also offered an alternative to the functionalist modernism of Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. A photograph of the exact same armchair is recorded in the MAK Library and Works on Paper Collection as number KI 16615-3. © photograph MAK, Vienna

The chair is now part of the permanent collection of the MAK, Vienna, Austria