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| Antiques & Collectibles |
Viennese Revival
Dana Micucci
04/01/2004
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Christie’s celebrated the Wiener Werkstätte’s 100th
anniversary in December with an impressive array of handicrafts produced by the workshop, including many rare pieces new to the market. An impressive 75 percent
of the 59 lots offered found buyers. The top lot, an enameled metal hostess pin
designed by Berthold Loffler in 1908 for the Kabaret Fledermaus (a famous
Viennese cabaret that was outfitted from floor to ceiling with Wiener Werkstätte
designs), soared past the pre-auction high estimate of $3,500 to fetch $86,040.
Other highlights included a hammered silver and ivory tea and coffee service
designed by Hoffmann that sold for $71,700, and a 1906 Gitterwerk
(square-perforated metal) jardiniere, also by Hoffmann, that went for the same
amount, easily surpassing the $50,000 pre-auction estimate. The cooperative’s
Gitterwerk designs in sheet iron, alpaca (silver plate), brass or silver
epitomized the early Wiener Werkstätte aesthetic.
 | | WIENER WERKSTÄTTE tazza. |
“There is always demand for
the best Wiener Werkstätte objects, particularly for pieces by its top
designers,” says Nicola Redway, head of 20th-Century Decorative Arts at
Christie’s. “Top quality silver and jewelry are especially popular and bring the
highest prices.” She believes that the Wiener Werkstätte’s relatively small
output and dwindling supply—as more pieces find their way into museums and
private collections—will lead to ever-higher valuations for the remaining
pieces.
This belief is borne out by recent sales. Sotheby’s Important
20th-Century Design auction in December featured 16 lots by Wiener Werkstätte
designers. Silver and furniture attracted the greatest interest. Among the
highlights were two silver pieces by Moser: a circa 1905-1910 honeypot on a
stand that brought $15,600, nearly double its presale estimate, and a circa 1910
Gitterwerk tray that fetched $11,400. Four lacquered bentwood seven-ball side
chairs sporting seven small wooden balls down the center of their backs,
designed by Hoffmann in 1906, sold from $36,000 to $42,000 each; the top price
estimate before the auction had been
$20,000.
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