Josef Hoffmann - Modern Masters London Tuesday, April 25, 2017 | Phillips

Modern Masters

London Auction 26 April 2017

  • Provenance

    Barry Friedman Ltd., New York
    Acquired from the above by the present owner, 1989

  • Catalogue Essay

    A period image of the present lot design is registered at the MAK, Vienna as inventory number WWF 96-236-1.
    A period image of the present lot design exhibited at the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes is registered at the MAK, Vienna as inventory number WWF 137-11-1.
    Drawings of the present lot design, dated 1922, are registered at the MAK, Vienna as inventory numbers KI 12056-23 and KI 12056-25.
    In the model books of the Wiener Werkstätte three productions of this model are documented, executed in 1923, 1924 and 1926 respectively.

    The present lot is testimony to the late, elaborately handcrafted, and thus expensive production from the Wiener Werkstätte. In 1922, the year in which this lot was designed, these kinds of challenging executions would cause the economical reorganisation necessary for the financial survival of the Wiener Werkstätte. By replacing individually handcrafted works with serial mass production, the economic and social changes following World War I were meant to be reflected and a wider audience attracted. With this viewpoint, the architect and head of the Wiener Werkstätte, Philipp Häusler, stood in direct opposition to Josef Hofmann, who still felt obliged to execute artistic and challengingly handcrafted examples, such as the present lot.

    In 1922, the architect Joseph Urban opened a branch of the Wiener Werkstätte in New York. In order to choose works from the current production, the Wiener Werkstätte sent across a photo album showing silver, amongst others an image of the present lot model. Hoffmann also chose to display this model at the Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in 1925.

    Phillips wishes to thank Dr. Christian Witt-Dörring and Dr. Elisabeth Schmuttermeier, Curator of the Metal Collection and Wiener Werkstätte Archive, MAK, Vienna, for assisting with the cataloguing of the present lot.

Σ216

Josef Hoffmann

Tea service, model no. S se 8, comprising model nos. S 5369 - S se 8-1, S 5370 - S se 8-2, S 5371 - S se 8-3, S 5372 - S se 8-4, S 5373 - S se 8-5

designed 1922, executed 1923-1926
Precious metal, ivory.
Sugar tong: 11.8 cm (4 5/8 in.) long
Lidded sugar bowl: 18 x 14 x 14 cm (7 1/8 x 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.)
Milk jug: 15.5 x 17 x 9.9 cm (6 1/8 x 6 3/4 x 3 7/8 in.)
Tray: 3.2 x 48.3 x 45 cm (1 1/4 x 19 x 17 3/4 in.)
Teapot: 26 x 25 x 14.2 cm (10 1/4 x 9 7/8 x 5 5/8 in.)
Executed by the Wiener Werkstätte, Vienna, Austria. Sugar tong: side marked with WIENER/WERK/STÄTTE, artist's monogram JH, Austrian assay mark and purity mark 900.
Lidded sugar bowl: side marked with WIENER/WERK/STÄTTE, artist's monogram JH, Austrian assay mark and with purity mark 900, the lid marked with WW and purity mark 900.
Milk jug: WIENER/WERK/STÄTTE, artist's monogram JH, Austrian assay mark and purity mark 900, underside incised with 64766.
Tray: top marked with WIENER/WERK/STÄTTE, artist's monogram JH, Austrian assay mark, WW and purity mark 900.
Teapot: side marked with WIENER/WERK/STÄTTE, artist's monogram JH, Austrian assay mark and purity mark 900, the lid marked with Austrian assay mark and lower edge of base with Austrian assay mark and WW, underside incised 6+766/16125.

Estimate
£40,000 - 50,000 

Sold for £90,000

Contact Specialist
Madalena Horta e Costa
Head of Sale
+44 20 7318 4019

Modern Masters

London Auction 26 April 2017