Children’s cutlery Josef Hoffmann Wiener Werkstatte ca. 1923
Silver children’s cutlery set, Josef Hoffmann and Eduard J. Wimmer-Wisgrill, Wiener Werkstatte, ca. 1923, marked
Description
The concept of the “Gesamtkunstwerk” was the leading credo for the craftsmen and the designers during the whole existence of the Wiener Werkstätte. The harmonious interior, in which everything was perfectly matched, was a main goal of the Jugendstil designers so that the employees of the Wiener Werkstätte created various objects for everyday life that were true works of art.
Eduard Josef Wimmer-Wisgrill was one of the employees of the traditional Viennese company, who created a series of fundamentally different objects, that were united by the quality of their first-class design. As a pupil of Josef Hoffmann, he was familiar with his style and often drew his inspiration from the designs of his mentor. However, this children’s cutlery shows that this was a two-way process. Wimmer-Wisgrill designed it as a unique piece for “Fräulein Hedwig Marx” in 1912, as the original sketch reveals. Josef Hoffmann highly appreciated the design and not only commissioned the production, but he even marked the pieces with his monogram, which was a high artistic recognition. Over 15 years later the children’s cutlery set was included in the sales catalogue of the Wiener Werkstätte from 1928.
ARTIST
Josef Hoffmann (Brtnice 1870 – 1956 Vienna), co-founder of the Viennese Secession and of the Wiener Werkstätte, was an extremely productive and versatile architect and designer. Throughout his career he experimented with various forms, techniques and materials. In his designs, he was striving for a strong reduction of the form to the essential and was a pioneer of geometric Jugendstil. This is how his characteristic geometric style was established. The scope of his designs ranges from buildings and entire interiors, following the concept of the “Gesamtkunstwerk” (total work of art), all the way to small details of everyday life. One of his most significant works is the Palais Stoclet in Brussels, a Gesamtkunstwerk which he executed for a wealthy entrepreneur between 1905 and 1911 in collaboration with, among others, Gustav Klimt and Koloman Moser.
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