Stem cup Josef Hoffmann Wiener Werkstätte ca. 1922

It is rare that objects from the decorative arts can be traced from their date of origin through the years to their reentry into the market. Fortunately, this is the case with our two Wiener Werkstätte silver cups: they were acquired from the Wiener Werkstätte together with various other objects in the 1920s by the Chemnitz entrepreneur Fritz Nischer. Through an inheritance, the entire collection came into the possession of a certain Dr. Müller from Westphalia. After his death, his heirs sold his collection, so that pieces can now be found on the open market. The quality of the workmanship is extremely high. Both stemmed cups were designed by Josef Hoffmann and show two different creative periods. While the cup with the stem unraveled is exemplary of the earlier, Glasgow
School influenced period, the floral vessel shows Hoffmann’s later, more tender approach to design.