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Lot Essay
A Total Work of Art: Tiffany Studios at Villa Waldbühl
Theodor Bühler (1877–1915) was a Swiss industrialist who became enamored of the English country house style while traveling in London. In 1907, Bühler commissioned the renowned British architect Mackay Hugh (M. H.) Baillie Scott (1865–1945) to create for him a residence “of the English type” in Uzwil, Switzerland. Landhaus Waldbühl, or Villa Waldbühl, was completed in 1911 and combined the best of traditional craftsmanship with modern innovation. A rare example of a complete design by Baillie Scott—featuring house, gardens, and furniture by the architect—Waldbühl presented a total work of art (Gesamtkunstwerk), seamlessly blending aesthetic beauty and harmonious living.
For the interior of Waldbühl, Baillie Scott embraced the principles of “fitness and beauty” outlined in his 1906 book Houses and Gardens. Living spaces were arranged around an open central hall, a staple of Arts and Crafts planning, and comprised intimate and richly ornamented rooms designed to promote a sense of comfort. Decoration was characterized by simplicity of form and luxury of finish. Natural materials were showcased in abundance, as were natural motifs, which blossomed from cabinets inlaid in fine woods and crept across ornamental plaster ceilings. Described in Country Life as radiating “harmony and comfort,” Waldbühl evoked both the nobility of the ancestral seat and the charm of the artistic cottage (Clive Aslet, 1991).
Baillie Scott worked with a team of trusted craftsmen at Waldbühl, including John P. White of the Pyghtle Works, Bedford, and Edmund Hunter of the St. Edmundsbury Weavers. He also consulted closely with his client, who bought directly from firms such as Morris & Co. in London. In 1910, Theodor Bühler purchased lamps from Tiffany & Co., Paris, the same year the company opened its flagship store at Place de l’Opéra. Bühler’s office, Bühler Frères, was in the nearby Rue du Louvre and it is possible that he visited the new Tiffany showrooms in person.
For his house at Uzwil, Bühler selected a range of Tiffany lamps in leaded glass and favrile glass varieties. In the dining room, a rare Dogwood chandelier added a touch of color to the paneled interiors, while a Tulip floor lamp illuminated the surfaces of a unique wood-grain desk in the study. Impressed “Tiffany Studios New York,” the pieces demonstrated the success of the New York firm abroad. Upstairs at Waldbühl, a Pony Begonia table lamp, Acorn chandelier, Lily sconce, and two three-light ceiling lamps brought an element of the garden indoors and cast a jewel-like glow around bedrooms and dressing rooms.
Remarkably, the Tiffany lamps remained at Waldbühl through the twentieth century in interiors which also retained their original layout—a testament, perhaps, to the art of embracing beauty without sacrificing either technical quality or decorative “fitness.”
Laura C. Jenkins, PhD, The Courtauld Institute of Art
Theodor Bühler (1877–1915) was a Swiss industrialist who became enamored of the English country house style while traveling in London. In 1907, Bühler commissioned the renowned British architect Mackay Hugh (M. H.) Baillie Scott (1865–1945) to create for him a residence “of the English type” in Uzwil, Switzerland. Landhaus Waldbühl, or Villa Waldbühl, was completed in 1911 and combined the best of traditional craftsmanship with modern innovation. A rare example of a complete design by Baillie Scott—featuring house, gardens, and furniture by the architect—Waldbühl presented a total work of art (Gesamtkunstwerk), seamlessly blending aesthetic beauty and harmonious living.
For the interior of Waldbühl, Baillie Scott embraced the principles of “fitness and beauty” outlined in his 1906 book Houses and Gardens. Living spaces were arranged around an open central hall, a staple of Arts and Crafts planning, and comprised intimate and richly ornamented rooms designed to promote a sense of comfort. Decoration was characterized by simplicity of form and luxury of finish. Natural materials were showcased in abundance, as were natural motifs, which blossomed from cabinets inlaid in fine woods and crept across ornamental plaster ceilings. Described in Country Life as radiating “harmony and comfort,” Waldbühl evoked both the nobility of the ancestral seat and the charm of the artistic cottage (Clive Aslet, 1991).
Baillie Scott worked with a team of trusted craftsmen at Waldbühl, including John P. White of the Pyghtle Works, Bedford, and Edmund Hunter of the St. Edmundsbury Weavers. He also consulted closely with his client, who bought directly from firms such as Morris & Co. in London. In 1910, Theodor Bühler purchased lamps from Tiffany & Co., Paris, the same year the company opened its flagship store at Place de l’Opéra. Bühler’s office, Bühler Frères, was in the nearby Rue du Louvre and it is possible that he visited the new Tiffany showrooms in person.
For his house at Uzwil, Bühler selected a range of Tiffany lamps in leaded glass and favrile glass varieties. In the dining room, a rare Dogwood chandelier added a touch of color to the paneled interiors, while a Tulip floor lamp illuminated the surfaces of a unique wood-grain desk in the study. Impressed “Tiffany Studios New York,” the pieces demonstrated the success of the New York firm abroad. Upstairs at Waldbühl, a Pony Begonia table lamp, Acorn chandelier, Lily sconce, and two three-light ceiling lamps brought an element of the garden indoors and cast a jewel-like glow around bedrooms and dressing rooms.
Remarkably, the Tiffany lamps remained at Waldbühl through the twentieth century in interiors which also retained their original layout—a testament, perhaps, to the art of embracing beauty without sacrificing either technical quality or decorative “fitness.”
Laura C. Jenkins, PhD, The Courtauld Institute of Art