Lot: 35

Josef Hoffmann (1870 - 1956)
money box with original key

Unique piece for Justine Wittgenstein. 800 silver. Execution: Josef Holi, Wiener Werkstätte, 1908. 7.7 x 9.5 x 7.3 cm. Weight: 229 g.
Marked on the underside: Monogram of the Wiener Werkstätte, trademark of the Wiener Werkstätte (rose), monogram of the executing metalworker: JH for Josef Holi, designer's monogram JH for Josef Hoffmann, Viennese official hallmark (3 for 800 silver).


Provenance: Wittgenstein family.

>> Literature

Reserve price: 22,000 €

K-14 - Auction November 2024
16. November 2024 at 10:00 AM CET

Literature:

Expertise on the money box of Josef Hoffmann by Dr. Elisabeth Schmuttermeier, curator of metal and Wiener Werkstätte archive, Vienna 17.9.2013 Expert opinion on the hallmark image examination of the money box of Josef Hoffmann for Justine Wittgenstein by Patrick Kovacs and Erich Scheidel, Vienna, 7 June 2013 Ursula Prokop, Margaret Stoneborough-Wittgenstein. Builders, intellectuals, patrons, Vienna 2003, p. 40.

As spiritus rector and head of the Wiener Werkstätte, he directed and participated in all Wiener Werkstätte exhibitions. Member and corresponding member of almost all artists' associations of his time. Within the framework of his idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk, Hoffmann produced designs for all branches of the applied arts, including furniture, metalwork, jewelry, leather, glass, textiles, ceramics and floor coverings. His designs in a strict black and white grid earned him the nickname “Quadratl-Hoffmann”. Hoffmann exerted a lasting influence on the development of applied art. (Gabriele Fahr-Becker, Wiener Werkstätte 1903-1932, Cologne 1995, p. 225)