Two Handled Bowl thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Two Handled Bowl

ca. 1925 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

There are two versions of this bowl. The version you see here is made of brass covered with a thin layer of gold. The other version, in silver, was reproduced in the Dekorative Kunst magazine (vol. XXXIV, 1925-6). Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956), who designed it, was a highly influential Viennese architect and designer.

In 1903 Hoffmann co-founded the Wiener Werkstätte, the exclusive Viennese workshops inspired by the Guild of Handicraft the English architect and designer C.R. Ashbee had set up in London. The workshops wanted to create good, simple design and new modern forms. They made this piece, with its hammered surface and curvilinear decorative handles, which influenced many silver designs of the 1920s.

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Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Gilt brass
Brief description
Gilt brass, Vienna ca.1925, made by the Wiener Werkstatte, designed by Josef Hoffmann.
Physical description
Gilt metal, the cup shaped bowl gadrooned and flared towards the lip, to the edge of which are attached elaborately scrolling strip handles. The stem and foot an inverted trumpet, also gadrooned.
Dimensions
  • Height: 18cm
  • Width: 29cm
Marks and inscriptions
Stamped just below the lip with the monogram of the Wiener Werstatte, that of Josef Hoffman and of the craftsman who made the piece.
Credit line
Formerly in the collection of Charles and Lavinia Handley-Read.
Object history
This two handles cup was executed in various materials as well as brass: in nickel silver and in silver. According to W. Neuwirth (Wiener Werkstätte 1984, p.191) the brass version is probably the earliest. Its production is demonstrable from 1925 to 1931.
Summary
There are two versions of this bowl. The version you see here is made of brass covered with a thin layer of gold. The other version, in silver, was reproduced in the Dekorative Kunst magazine (vol. XXXIV, 1925-6). Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956), who designed it, was a highly influential Viennese architect and designer.

In 1903 Hoffmann co-founded the Wiener Werkstätte, the exclusive Viennese workshops inspired by the Guild of Handicraft the English architect and designer C.R. Ashbee had set up in London. The workshops wanted to create good, simple design and new modern forms. They made this piece, with its hammered surface and curvilinear decorative handles, which influenced many silver designs of the 1920s.
Bibliographic references
  • Eric Turner An Introduction to Brass, London, HMSO, 1982, p.47 ill. ISBN 088045007X
  • Dedo von Kerrsenbrock-Krosigk, Modern Art of Metalwork, Berlin, Brohan Museum, 2001, p.536. ill. ISBN. 3-9801525--9-6
  • Jervis, Simon, Victorian and Edwardian decorative art: the Handley-Read collection, London, Royal Academy of Arts, 1972 p.130
Collection
Accession number
M.41-1972

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Record createdMarch 15, 2004
Record URL
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