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Lot Essay
cf. Exhibition catalogue, Koloman Moser 1868-1918, Leopold Museum, Vienna, 2007, p. 219, fig. 77 for a comparable box.
The Wiener Werkstätte was officially established in May of 1903, and in October of that year Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffman set up a metal workshop at Neustiftgasse 32-34 in Vienna. In the early years, when their collaboration was at its peak, their metalwork relied on simple geometric forms and was often strikingly similar. In time, however, the strict geometry gave way to ornamentation and floral motifs and their work became uniquely recognizable as both their own and that of the Wiener Werkstätte. The present box by Moser, who was arguably the more sensual stylist of the two, is from these later years and is notable for its malachite cabochons, light and elegant curling lines and the repeated rounded heart motif.
While the Wiener Werkstätte continued until 1932, Moser left in 1908. By this time the organization's finances were already in trouble, with costs and extravagant production requirements far outweighing price and income. Disillusioned by lack of public support, frustrated by impossibly demanding clients, convinced that the Wiener Werkstätte's output was too elaborate and varied, and outraged by a direct approach by Wärndorfer to Moser's independently wealthy wife Ditha for financial assistance, Moser resigned.
The present box is dated 1910, after Moser had left the Wiener Werkstätte, and was executed by the silver and gold smith Anton Pribil. A contemporary photograph of this piece is located in the MAK Archives. It appears to be the only one to have been executed.
The Wiener Werkstätte was officially established in May of 1903, and in October of that year Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffman set up a metal workshop at Neustiftgasse 32-34 in Vienna. In the early years, when their collaboration was at its peak, their metalwork relied on simple geometric forms and was often strikingly similar. In time, however, the strict geometry gave way to ornamentation and floral motifs and their work became uniquely recognizable as both their own and that of the Wiener Werkstätte. The present box by Moser, who was arguably the more sensual stylist of the two, is from these later years and is notable for its malachite cabochons, light and elegant curling lines and the repeated rounded heart motif.
While the Wiener Werkstätte continued until 1932, Moser left in 1908. By this time the organization's finances were already in trouble, with costs and extravagant production requirements far outweighing price and income. Disillusioned by lack of public support, frustrated by impossibly demanding clients, convinced that the Wiener Werkstätte's output was too elaborate and varied, and outraged by a direct approach by Wärndorfer to Moser's independently wealthy wife Ditha for financial assistance, Moser resigned.
The present box is dated 1910, after Moser had left the Wiener Werkstätte, and was executed by the silver and gold smith Anton Pribil. A contemporary photograph of this piece is located in the MAK Archives. It appears to be the only one to have been executed.