THE TRUE STORY OF THE "ROCKING EGG CHAIR"

One of the masterpieces designed by Max Fabiani for the Società Antonio Volpe is the rocking egg chair n. 267, which has been attributed for years to Josef Hoffmann, designer for the firm Jacob & Josef Kohn.

The rocking egg chair n. 267, as well as its follow-up model n. 269, manufactured by the Società Anonima Antonio Volpe, represent  the beginning of Italian design and the end of a story that begun during the early Sixties of the 19th Century. Indeed, during the Great London Exposition of 1862, Michael Thonet and his sons presented the first rocking chair made of steam-bended beechwood, as well as other models, such as the chair n. 14, which are nowadays considered milestones in the history of design. It was not easy to create a new, original model, different  from the standard of construction of the Thonet Rockers.

Above the Egg Rocking chair no.267,

on the left the rocking chair no.269,

both manufactured by the Società Anonima Antonio Volpe.

Who designed the rocking chair,  if Joseph Hoffmann did not?

Surely it had to be someone who was part of the Viennese school, but not necessarily Austrian. The juxtaposition with Max Fabiani is nowadays pretty spontaneous, not only because of the geographical proximity, but also because of its work as an architect. Indeed, some of the models of the chairs he designed in Vienna and were later manufactured in Udine, as well as the projects for his famous prefabricated cottage and the ideas described in his diaries, created a perfect parallelism between Joseph Hoffmann and Max Fabiani.