VIENNA, AUSTRIA.- The Art Nouveau Sale at the Vienna Dorotheum on 21st May 2003 concentrates on the outstanding achievements of the Wiener Werkstätte, founded exactly one hundred years ago. Thus, this sale is the first of this year’s series of jubilee celebrations.
On 19th May, 1903 the Wiener Werkstätte was registered in Vienna as "Productivgenossenschaft von Kunsthandwerkern". It aimed at pursuing elegance, a reduced vocabulary of form, functionality and appropriateness, which stood in contrast to the pronounced imitation of styles of Historicism. It was led by Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser, both members of the Vienna Secession. The output of the Wiener Werkstätte workshops comprised, among other things, handmade objects of metal, gold, and silver such as jewellery and tableware, but also furniture, textiles, glass, ceramics, and leather articles. The majority of designs was supplied by famous artists, including Carl Otto Czeschka, Josef Hoffmann, Bertold Löffler, Dagobert Peche, and, of course, Koloman Moser. Constantly struggling with its weak financial situation, the Wiener Werkstätte was finally closed down in 1932 and deleted from the commercial register.
The sale offers a great variety of works produced by the Wiener Werkstätte, from its very beginnings to its shutdown in 1932: Most outstanding is a square silvergilt brooch set with semiprecious stones by Josef Hoffmann (designed in 1910, € 22,000 – 32,000), but also his silver caviar bowl with an opalescent glass liner stands out for its unusual handicraft (€ 15,000 – 25,000). Koloman Moser chose a bulbous circular form decorated with a pattern of stars and lozenges for his alpaca silver lidded box with gilt interior and rose quartz finial (designed in 1904, manufactured in 1909/19, € 8,000 – 11,000). Carl Otto Czescka is represented with a silver letter opener decorated with bellflower tendrils and lapis lazuli (designed in 1908, € 5,000 – 7,000), while Dagobert Peche appears with a small carved wall mirror (designed in 1922, € 6,000 – 7,000). Stylised bellflower garlands flank the raised representation of a putto on an oval silver medallion by Bertold Löffler (designed in 1909, € 1,100 – 1,500). The varied selection of cutlery from Josef Hoffmann’s "Round Model" (designed in 1906/08) includes a sardine server (€ 600 – 800), two crayfish knives (€ 1,000 – 1,300) and three oyster forks (€ 1,100 – 1,500). A plain, elegant circular brass table clock was designed by Josef Hoffmann prior to 1928 (€ 11,000 – 15,000).
