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Josef Hoffmann

Vienna, 1925
hand-hammered brass
signed/stamped: JH, Wiener Werkstaette, Made in Austria

Josef Hoffmann believed in the ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’, the total work of art, being responsible for the architecture, as well as the interior design, even the smallest object of his buildings. As suggested by their friend Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Hoffmann founded together with designer Koloman Moser and financier Waerndorfer the ‘Wiener Werkstaette’ in 1903. The manifesto stated: “our guiding principle is function, ...our strength must lie in good proportions and proper treatment of materials.” The purified spirit sought by the Vienna reformers – the beauty of pure shapes, surfaces and materials appealed to the upper classes and intellectuals with a taste for the avant-garde.

Objects, such as this fabulous centerpiece, designed by Josef Hoffmann and made by the Wiener Werkstaette, belong to the most sought after collectibles in the field. A similar piece with scolled handles is in the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienne (MAK).

Lit: Peter Noever, Josef Hoffmann Designs, MAK-Austrian Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, 1992, p. 172, ill. 268 (center piece with handles)Waltraud Neuwirth, Wiener Werkstaettte, Vienna, 1984, p. 191, ill. 150

Height: 7” Diameter: 13”