bowl

Object NameBowl with Cover

Designer Josef Hoffmann (Austrian, 1870-1956)

Maker(glass) probably Meyr’s Neffe Glassworks (1862-1922)

Retailer Wiener Werkstätte (1903-1932)

Made FromLead Glass

Date1916

Place MadeAustria, Vienna; probably Bohemia, Vimperk (Adolf bei Winterberg)

TechniqueBlown into mold, ground, polished

SizeOverall H: 12.9 cm; (a) Bowl Rim Diam (max): 11.7 cm

Accession Number74.3.24 I

Curatorial Area(s)

Modern

Exhibitions

The Tradition of the Avant-Garde: Bohemian Glass 1820-1935

Glass of the Architects: Vienna, 1900-1937

On ViewModern Gallery

Interpretive Notes

Web Text

The Viennese architect and designer Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956) deplored the poor quality of mass-produced objects. His preference for well-crafted everyday wares echoed the aims of the earlier Arts and Crafts movement in England. Hoffmann, who belonged to the avant-garde group of Austrian artists known as the Vienna Sezession, founded the Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshop) in 1903. It produced all kinds of decorative arts, from jewelry to complete room decorations. Vienna’s Die Fledermaus (The Bat), designed by Hoffmann and others in 1907, is one of the Wiener Werkstätte’s most recognized interiors. Inspired by artistic cabarets in Paris and Munich, it promoted the Werkstätte’s design philosophy. In glass, Hoffmann’s work is characterized by simple, full forms and spare, usually geometric decoration. This set of glasses was probably made at Meyr’s Neffe, one of the Bohemian glassworks that fabricated the Wiener Werkstätte’s designs.

Physical DescriptionBowl with Cover. Transparent royal blue lead glass; blown into mold, rim and foot ground, polished. Spherical covered bowl, lid is topped by solid handle of applied small sphere attached by a short, thick, solid stem, slightly inset narrow flange, hemispherical bowl has rim that tapers in slightly, no lip, no foot, base is ground and polished flat; unsigned.
Provenance

Source Robert K. Brown - 1974-05-02