§ JOSEF HOFFMANN (1870-1956) FOR WIENER WERKSTÄTTE PAIR OF KOHLENKISTE (COAL BOXES), CIRCA 1905 painted pine (50cm square, 50cm high) Qty: (2) Provenance: Jerome and Margaret Stonborough-Wittgenstein, Berlin and by family descent Footnote: Literature: MAK, Vienna WWF 102-79-4 and WWF 102-79-2, period photograph illustrated. Josef Hoffmann Architect and Designer 1870-1956, exhibition catalogue, Galerie Metropol, New York, 1981, p.163 illus. Note: Margaret Wittgenstein (1882-1958) married the American Jerome Stonborough (1873-1938) in Vienna on 7 January 1905. For their wedding and their subsequent move to Berlin, Karl Wittgenstein (1847-1913), the bride's father, commissioned the Wiener Werkstätte to furnish the couple's Berlin apartment (In den Zelten 21a). Wittgenstein was a German-born Austrian steel tycoon and, at the time, one of the richest men in the world. His sons were the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and the pianist Paul Wittgenstein and he was also a major patron of the Vienna Secession. In the same year, he commissioned Klimt to paint Margaret's portrait, which today hangs in the Neue Pinakothek in Munich. Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann supplied the interior designs for the apartment, including all ancillary facilities such as the kitchen and the servant’s quarters. Margaret, writing to her mother in Vienna on 18 April 1905 remarked that "Moser - who was absolutely charming again - and I have for the last three days been arranging furniture, hanging pictures and painting frames. Now the apartment is in good shape, at least superficially, and Jerome and I are delighted and sing yours and the Wiener Werkstätte's praises every day." The current lot, a pair of coal boxes, were said to have stood in the servant’s quarters. They are striking, with their stepped facades in bas relief adding drama to the restrained form. This feature is found in other furniture designed by Hoffmann for the apartment including chairs and a matching wardrobe. In keeping with other related pieces, the boxes were highlighted with a coloured band in grey or blue (now overpainted).