Jugendstil sideboard Joseph M. Olbrich attr. A Nagel Vienna ca. 1905

The large Jugendstil sideboard is part of a complete dining room manufactured by Viennese cabinetmaker A. Nagel. The exquisite ensemble dating from ca. 1905 also includes an extendable table with six chairs, a vitrine, a grandfatherclock and a side table. Stylistically very similar Secessionist furniture and an almost identical sideboard designed by Joseph Maria Olbrich are illustrated in the exhibition catalog of the 1984 Venice Biennale “Le Arti a Vienna”. Thus, we feel confirmed in our assumption to attribute the whole ensemble to famous architect-designer Olbrich.
The large sideboard made of solid oak is manufactured in finest quality, bearing a relief-like ornamentation with mother-of-pearl inlays on the front. The two-piece body is stained and polished, its interior in the upper part lavishly veneered with thuja-wood. Display case and doors enthuse with their relief carvings, contrasting mother-of-pearl ornaments and original, faceted glass.
Particularly charming are the decorative elements on the display case doors and drawer-fittings made of cast and chased brass and featuring stylized flowers. Sophisticated elements, such as the pull-out panels or the cassetted doors stand for the well-thought-out design. The representative vitrine perfectly reflects the taste of the wealthy upper class in Vienna around 1900 and testifies to the superb quality of fine Viennese cabinetmaking of the time.